Helsinki Biennial 2025 opens to the public on Sunday 8 June

Helsinki Biennial 2025 brings together 37 artists and collectives on Vallisaari Island, in Esplanade Park, and at HAM Helsinki Art Museum. The theme of this third edition of the major contemporary art event is Shelter: Below and Beyond, Becoming and Belonging. Helsinki Biennial takes place from 8 June to 21 September 2025.

Helsinki Biennial 2025 showcases artists from around the world. A total of 37 artists and artist collectives are participating, representing 30 different cultures, with a particular emphasis on the Nordic countries, Latin America, and Asia. Of the artists and collectives, 25 have their work exhibited on Vallisaari Island, 5 in Esplanade Park, and 15 at HAM Helsinki Art Museum. There are 57 works and ensembles in total, about half of which are premiering in Helsinki. Helsinki Biennial 2025 includes 13 commissioned works. This edition features, for example, mixed-media installations, works that honor traditional craftsmanship, sound sculptures, and ceramics that offer shelter.

Mayor of Helsinki Daniel Sazonov:
“We are delighted to welcome visitors to the third edition of Helsinki Biennial. Helsinki is a vibrant city of events, and the biennial has found a special place in Helsinki’s events calendar and the hearts of the residents. Creativity, art, the maritime environment, and a close connection to nature play an important role in the everyday wellbeing of people in Helsinki. This year, this major contemporary art event gains a new dimension as it extends to Esplanade Park. Helsinki aims to be a flourishing cultural city where art offers pleasant surprises and helps us to view familiar places from new perspectives.”

Director of HAM Helsinki Art Museum and Helsinki Biennial Arja Miller:
“Helsinki Biennial is based on the unique connection between art, nature, and the maritime city – it makes us special in the international biennial scene. The wild nature of Vallisaari Island, urban rhythm of Esplanade Park, and HAM’s museum spaces create stages where contemporary art can live, breath, and transform. Helsinki Biennial is a dialogue between art, the city and its residents, and nature. At the biennial, you can rest, gain insights, learn, and have fun. The artworks are meant to be experienced using all the senses, and, above all, they are there to be enjoyed.”

Helsinki Biennial 2025 explores the significance of shelter

The curators of Helsinki Biennial 2025, Blanca de la Torre and Kati Kivinen, drew inspiration from the protected Vallisaari Island, which has been off-limits for human habitation for decades. Helsinki Biennial 2025 explores the significance of shelter and turns the gaze towards non-human nature. In the works, the focus shifts from humans to animals, water, plants, insects, minerals, and other living beings and their role as contributors to our planet’s wellbeing.

Helsinki Biennial 2025 Curators Blanca de la Torre and Kati Kivinen: 
“We are thrilled to kick off Helsinki Biennial 2025. We are deeply grateful to all the hands, minds, and hearts that made the biennial possible – it is the result of a joint effort. Art provides shelter and comfort in many ways, both conceptually and physically. The concept of shelter serves as a reminder of our interdependence and eco-dependence in preserving the future. Shelter is not just a refuge, but a relationship in which boundaries between the living and the non-living blur, encouraging us to explore what coexistence with non-human creatures truly means, in all its nuances.”

The artists and collectives of Helsinki Biennial 2025 are Maria Thereza Alves (BR/DE), Band of Weeds (FI), Ana Teresa Barboza (PE), Sissel M Bergh (Sápmi/NO), Sara Bjarland (FI/NL), Saskia Calderón (EC), Edgar Calel (GT), Tania Candiani (MX), Regina de Miguel (ES/DE), Olafur Eliasson (DK/IS), Carola Grahn (Saepmie/SE), Tue Greenfort (DK), Kalle Hamm (FI) & Dzamil Kamanger (IR/FI), Tamara Henderson (CA/AU), Gunzi Holmström (FI), Katie Holten (IE/US), Ingela Ihrman (SE), Geraldine Javier (PH), Aluaiy Kaumakan (TW), Kristiina Koskentola (FI/NL), Yayoi Kusama (JP), Jenni Laiti (FI/SE) & Carl-Johan Utsi (SE), LOCUS / Thale Blix Fastvold & Tanja Thorjussen (NO), nabbteeri (FI), Ernesto Neto (BR), Otobong Nkanga (NG/BE), Giuseppe Penone (IT), Laura Põld (EE/AT), Marjetica Potrč (SI), Kati Roover (EE/FI), Hans Rosenström (FI), Paul Rosero Contreras (EC), Raimo Saarinen (FI), Pia Sirén (FI), Theresa Traore Dahlberg (SE/BF), Nomeda & Gediminas Urbonas (LT/US), and Juan Zamora (ES).

Made with big heart for broad audience: Three locations, three free admission days, and thousands of schoolchildren

Helsinki Biennial 2025 is designed for a wide audience, and its accessibility has been improved with a new venue in the centre of Helsinki. During the event, outstanding contemporary art can be experienced for free in Esplanade Park. 

Helsinki Biennial also extends to HAM Helsinki Art Museum at Tennis Palace. HAM’s impressive arched halls showcase works specifically suited for museum spaces. HAM, a Museum Card destination, is subject to standard admission fees. However, the entry is complimentary on Helsinki Day (12 June), Friday 27 June, Friday 25 July, Tove Jansson and Finnish Art Day (9 August), and Friday 29 August.

The exhibition on Vallisaari Island open to the public is free of charge. The ferry service is operated by FRS Finland, and it is subject to a fee. Metsähallitus, which is responsible for the tendering for the ferry service, together with HAM Helsinki Art Museum and the City of Helsinki, have successfully collaborated to make the ticket price more visitor-friendly. A standard round-trip ticket to the island costs €10.90 this summer.

This year, the City of Helsinki offers free ferry rides to Vallisaari on three Fridays: 27 June, 25 July, and 29 August. Additionally, the City of Helsinki invites pupils in grades 1 to 9 to enjoy cost-free visits during August and September 2025.

Helsinki Deputy Mayor for Culture and Leisure Paavo Arhinmäki:
“Helsinki Biennial’s central aim is to make high-quality international and Finnish contemporary art accessible to all Helsini residents. That is why ensuring broad access to Vallisaari Island is so important. We have succeeded to nearly halve the price of the ferry ticket compared to the 2023 biennial. Additionally, the City of Helsinki is offering three days of complimentary ferry service to Vallisaari. Special attention is also given to schoolchildren: we are offering up to 10,000 comprehensive school pupils free ferry rides to and from Vallisaari. This initiative allows schools to explore both art and the maritime environment in a cross-curricular way.”

Helsinki Biennial adds the presence of permanent art in Helsinki

HAM Helsinki Art Museum, the organiser of Helsinki Biennial, is committed to ensuring that each biennial leaves a lasting legacy on Helsinki in the form of public art. This is not only about adopting more sustainable working methods, but also about directly fulfilling HAM’s mission: to maximise the presence of art in the city.

From the 2021 Helsinki Biennial, three works have remained permanently in Helsinki: No Heaven up in the Sky by Laura Könönen, now located in Jätkäsaari, and Big Be-Hide and Pars pro Toto by Alicja Kwade, placed in Kalasatama. Also to be installed in Kalasatama is Keiken collective’s Ángel Yōkai Atā, which was originally shown at the 2023 Helsinki Biennial. From the 2025 Helsinki Biennial, at least two works will be permanently installed in Helsinki: Stranding by Sara Bjarland and From the Dark into the Great Blue Yonder by Gunzi Holmström.

A successful collaboration on a public art project may also lead to a work being featured at Helsinki Biennial. Long daylight pavilion, a public artwork by Olafur Eliasson unveiled on 5 June in Kruunuvuorenranta, has been in preparation for Helsinki for a long time, and the collaboration also paved the way for his art to be experienced on Vallisaari as part of Helsinki Biennial 2025.

Ernesto Neto: SaariBird, 2025. Helsinki Biennial 8.6.–21.9.2025, Vallisaari Island. Photo: HAM / Helsinki Biennial / Maija Toivanen.