Finnish Pavilion at the Gwangju Biennale: Acts of Care

Finnish Pavilion at the 15th Gwangju Biennale
Ha Jung-woong Museum of Art
September 7 – December 1, 2024

Finnish Pavilion at the 15th Gwangju Biennale presents works by four visual artists living and working in Finland: Nayab Noor Ikram, Hertta Kiiski, Maija Tammi and Sampsa Virkajärvi. The exhibition Acts of Care is curated by Kati Kivinen and Pirkko Siitari. The Finnish Pavilion is part of the Gwangju Biennale Pavilion programme, highlighting contemporary art from various countries.

Through a selection of videos and installations, the Finnish Pavilion exhibition raises questions about the role and significance of care and nurturing in today’s societies. The recent pandemics, aging populations, and the environmental crisis have highlighted the inadequacy and necessity of care for the living and non-living alike. On political and personal levels, the artists’ works reflect the relationships between society and the individual, humans and other organisms.

Acts of Care approaches care and nursing from different perspectives, looking at parent-child relations of human and non-human actors, hierarchies between species and possible futures where care is provided more equally. Building connections between human and non-human, organic and inorganic, it asks, what can we learn from nature, animals and each other about nurturing, empathy and care?

The Finnish Pavilion is supported by Frame Contemporary Art Finland, The Embassy of Finland in Seoul, Gwangju Biennale Foundation and LG Electronics.

Pavilion of Finland at the 15th Gwangju Biennale: Acts of Care
Ha Jung-woong Museum of Art, 1165 Sangmu-daero, Seo-gu, Gwangju
Dates: 7 September – 1 December, 2024 
Pavilion Opening Reception: Saturday, 7 September at 3.30 pm

More information and press materials:
Rosa Kuosmanen: rosa.kuosmanen@frame-finland.fi
Head of Communications, Frame Contemporary Art Finland

Nayab Noor Ikram

Nayab Noor Ikram is a Finnish-based visual artist and  photographer of the Pakistani diaspora from The Åland Island. In her artistic practice, Ikram works with moving image, photography, performances, and installations exploring concepts dealing with the feeling of in-betweenship, cultural identity, and memory through rituals and symbolism. Ikram’s work has been shown in Finland and internationally and can be found in public and private collections, such as the City of Helsinki managed by the Helsinki Art Museum and The Åland Art Museum. In 2019 she was the recipient of a Culture Award from the Swedish Cultural Foundation in Finland.

Hertta Kiiski

Hertta Kiiski’s works dream of a new affinity between the human and the more-than-human, the organic and the inorganic, transforming existing hierarchies. Her photographs, videos, textiles, and installations exist in a framework of youth and love with aspects of the magical, the mythical and the esoteric. Much of her work is created in the domestic sphere, in collaboration with her daughters, dogs and other animals. Kiiski holds an MFA from The Academy of Fine Arts of Uniarts Helsinki. Her work has been presented internationally, including Kiasma Museum of Contemporary Art (FI, 2024), NOON Projects (USA, 2023), SEA Foundation (NE, 2023), Hafnarborg Museum (IS, 2020) and The Finnish Museum of Photography (FI, 2019).

Maija Tammi

Maija Tammi’s photographs, videos, and installations examine the topics of mortality and immortality by combining art and science. Tammi’s practice is characterized by the desire to find the underlying cause of things, and she often collaborates with artists, researchers, and experts in various fields. She completed her doctorate in arts at Aalto University in 2017. Tammi has published five books and her recent solo exhibitions include Turku Art Museum (FI), The Finnish Museum of Photography (FI) and Vasli Souza Gallery (NO). Her solo exhibition will be at the MU Hybrid Art House in the Netherlands in the summer of 2024. This year her works are also being exhibited in Berlin and Tokyo.

Sampsa Virkajärvi

Sampsa Virkajärvi is a visual artist and documentary filmmaker interested in time and change and society, as well as in individual choices and the impossibilities of making them. His works deal with cultural issues and historical matters. Virkajärvi is interested in experiences of living under the pressures of economic powers and technological changes. His works have been seen in exhibitions and festivals including Helsinki International Film Festival (FI, 2022), Sema Seoul Museum of Art (KR, 2019), Serlachius Museum Gösta (FI, 2018–19), Museum of Contemporary Art Kiasma (2008) and Kunsthalle Helsinki (2001).