Past events

Frame participated in producing The Finnish Pavilion Without Walls for the Performa Biennial in Autumn 2023. The Pavilion continued Performa’s mission to showcase vibrant performances from around the world, bringing together experimental performance, dance, and sound-based artists from Finland for the 10th edition of the Performa Biennial.

Performa Biennial, a festival dedicated to interdisciplinary performance by visual artists, took place across New York City between November 1–19, 2023. Performa’s renowned Pavilions Without Walls program commissioned and presented interdisciplinary live performances by contemporary artists based in Finland. Many of them made their U.S. debut with Performa.

The Finnish Pavilion Without Walls presented works by artists Teo Ala-Ruona, Anna Maria Häkkinen and Niko Hallikainen; Jenna Sutela in partnership with Swiss Institute; an event at the Performa Hub with chef Antto Melasniemi and artist Rirkrit Tiravanija; a two-part sound series curated and co-commissioned with PUBLICS titled SONIC TONIC ASSEMBLY featuring AGF, Bhavisha Panchia, Chris Williams x Lester St. Louis, DeForrest Brown (Speaker Music), Tony Cokes, Lamin Fofana, Islaja, KMRU, Lau Nau, and Cucina Povera. Artist Pilvi Takala participated as Performa Hub’s Artist-in-Residence.

The Finnish Pavilion Without Walls was organized by Performa in collaboration with the Finnish Cultural Institute in New York, Frame Contemporary Art Finland, the Consulate General of Finland in New York, and HIAP – Helsinki International Artist Programme. The Sonic Tonic Assembly was co-produced by Performa, PUBLICS and PALO Art Productions. The Pavilion was generously supported by the Ministry of Education and Culture, Jane and Aatos Erkko Foundation and Saastamoinen Foundation.

Rehearsing Hospitalities was Frame Contemporary Art Finland’s public programme for 2019–2023. Throughout the five years, it connected artists, curators and other practitioners in the field of contemporary art and beyond to build up and mediate new practices of hospitality.

Rehearsing Hospitalities consisted of offline and online events such as talks, exhibitions, performances, gatherings, workshops, readings and podcasts to encourage different levels of access and engagement. 40 different events and exhibitions were organised and curated in collaboration with a wide range of partners, from institutions and organisations to individual artists and curators.

Through Rehearsing Hospitalities Frame has brought together 38 organisations, and 185 artists, curators and other practitioners, both from Finland and abroad, who have contributed to the programme. Nearly 10 000 guests have attended the events and exhibitions and also the online programme has received over 10 000 views.

See past events, contributors and materials here

Re-practicing Hospitalities was a long-term, steadily expanding network of contemporary art organizations and curators active in the Nordic and Baltic countries. Formed between 2020 and 2023, it aimed to generate new ways of practicing hospitality and collaborating within the contemporary art field. It simultaneously challenges current patterns of inclusion and exclusion in network building.

Partners of the network were Frame Contemporary Art Finland, Kaunas Artists’ House, SixtyEight Art Institute, Contemporary Art Museum of Estonia (EKKM), Tromsø Kunstforening and Konsthall C. Between 2020–2023 network organised meetings, research trips talks and workshops at online and on Helsinki, Tallinn, Kaunas and Oslo.

The network is formed around Frame Contemporary Art Finland’s Rehearsing Hospitalities public programme, which connects artists, curators and other practitioners in the field of contemporary art and beyond to build up and mediate new practices, understandings and engagements with diverse hospitalities.

The network activities were supported by the Nordic Culture Point’s Nordic-Baltic Mobility Programme for Culture.

The Peer-to-Peer Programme was a joint initiative connecting artists and art workers across Europe for professional discussions and network building. The programme acted as a response to the needs declared by artists to dialogue with art professionals across disciplines and regions. These individuals were carefully matched by each organisation, which offered a shortlist specifically tailored with each artist in mind. The artist determined the final match-up for each of their meetings.

The project fostered professional development within the field of contemporary art, ecologically and transculturally. Originating as a response to the COVID-19 pandemic, it acknowledged both the need to exchange knowledge and act virtually. One of the programme’s aims for the future was to continue using remote communication systems – an endeavour in response to our current conditions and as an enduring platform to address the adverse global impact of air travel.

The first open call to the programme was launched in spring 2021.  

The programme was co-organised by the Danish Art Foundation, Estonian Centre for Contemporary Art, Flanders Arts Institute, Frame Contemporary Art Finland, IASPIS – The Swedish Arts Grants Committee’s International Programme for Visual and Applied Art, Latvian Centre for Contemporary Art, Mondriaan Fund (the Netherlands), Office for Contemporary Art Norway, and Swiss Arts Council Pro Helvetia. Each organisation hosted eight artists for the programme, 72 artists in total.

The Finland-Russia Curatorial Exchange was an exchange programme for curators based in Finland and Russia at different stages of their professional life. It brought together participants to network with each other, engage with partners’ programmes and the contemporary art scenes in both countries. The programme was organised in collaboration with the Finnish Institute in St.Petersburg, The Pushkin museum – NCCA in Saint Petersburg between 2021 and 2022. It was supported by Finland’s Ministry of Education and Culture.

HIAP – Helsinki International Artist Programme is a platform for international collaborative projects and residencies for art professionals from around the world. Participating in the Gwangju Biennale Pavilion Project of 2018 held in Gwangju, South Korea, the exhibition and public programme, titled Fictional Frictions, sets out to explore shifting understandings of borders. Following HIAP’s tentacular way of operating, the exhibition builds a bridge for artists and thinkers from Finland and South Korea to gently collide and coexist for a moment.

The exhibition investigates diverse mechanisms of boundary making, and fosters unexpected entanglements. Finnish artists Elina Vainio (b.1981) and Nestori Syrjälä (b.1983) will examine humans’ influences and ways of relating to ecological transformations. For Gwangju Biennale, they will realise context-specific iterations of their recent installations. The pavilion is curated by Jenni Nurmenniemi (HIAP) who has in recent years worked extensively on Frontiers in Retreat, a five-year project on art and ecology.

HIAP Pavilion is realised as part of the 12th Gwangju Biennale Pavilion Project, with the support of Gwangju Biennale Foundation, and in partnership with Frame Contemporary Art Finland. The 12th Gwangju Biennale runs from September 7 until 11 November 2018 in Gwangju, South Korea.

Two Finnish artists, Eija-Liisa Ahtila and Tuomas A. Laitinen participated in the 21st Biennale of Sydney in 2018.  The Biennale of Sydney is Australia’s largest contemporary visual arts event. Held every two years, the Biennale is a three-month exhibition, with an accompanying programme.

The biennale was held from 14 March until 11 June 2018.

As part of the M10 Education program MANIFESTA 10 On Board brought together artists, students, and arts professionals on an overnight ferry trip from Helsinki to St. Petersburg on October 7-8 to engage in a dynamic dialogue about the context in which MANIFESTA 10 is presented and the issues related to its controversial presentation in Russia in 2014.

The On Board program offered a socio-cultural context for viewers to examine MANIFESTA 10 by discussing what censorship/self-censorship means in this region and its impact on the work of artists and arts organizations. The program began on board the St. Peter Line ferry in Helsinki and was followed by a program of events within the main venues of the Biennial at the State Hermitage Museum and at various cultural organizations across St. Petersburg.

Manifesta 10 On Board was realised in partnership with Frame, Center for Contemporary Arts Estonia and the Office for Contemporary Art Norway.

Three Helsinki-based galleries along with Komplot collective from Brussels gave an introduction to the Finnish contemporary art scene at the Untitled. Miami art fair on Miami art week 3–7 December. Finland Represented – Initiatives for Individuality presented a selection of galleries and art spaces showcasing a variety of actors from the independent to the commercial and from the agency to the collaborator.

The participating galleries were selected by curator Aura Seikkula. Gallery ARTag presented works by Emma Helle, Teemu Korpela and Hans Rosenström. SIC art space exhibited works by Olli Keränen and Maija Luutonen, and Sinne gallery of the Pro Artibus Foundation an performative installation by Anastasia Ax.

Initiatives for Individuality exhibition was organized in collaboration with the Consulate General of Finland in New York and Frame Contemporary Art Finland. The exhibition was supported by The Finnish Ministry of Education and Culture, The Swedish Cultural Foundation in Finland and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Finland.

Three Finnish artists, Henna-Riikka Halonen, Sasha Huber and Anna Tuori participated in the 19th Biennale of Sydney. In the exhibition, called You Imagine What You Desire, Halonen and Huber presented video works, and Tuori paintings. The Biennale of Sydney is Australia’s largest contemporary visual arts event. Held every two years, the Biennale is a three-month exhibition, with an accompanying programme.

The biennale was held form 21 March until 9 June 2014.

Finland was the focus country at the international ARCOmadrid art fair in Spain in February 2014. The Finnish programme at the fair consisted of 13 galleries and the #FocusFinland Pavilion featuring two video installations by the Finnish artist Heta Kuchka. Each gallery presented a solo exhibition at their stands. The Finnish programme at the fair was curated by Leevi Haapala from Kiasma Museum of Contemporary Art, Helsinki.

#FocusFinland was a joint effort of various organisations. The programme was coordinated by Frame Contemporary Art Finland. The programme at the fair was a collaboration between Frame and the Finnish galleries in the ARCOmadrid programme. The Kiasma Lounge was hosted by Frame and Kiasma. The accompanying programme was organized by Frame, the Finnish Institute in Madrid and the venues in Madrid.

Participating galleries in #FocusFinland:

Gallery Ama: Elina Brotherus

Galerie Anhava: Antti Laitinen

Forum Box: Mia Hamari

Galerie Forsblom: Leena Nio

Gallery Heino: IC-98 (Patrik Söderlund & Visa Suonpää)

Helsinki Contemporary: Ville Andersson

Photographic Gallery Hippolyte: Perttu Saksa

Korjaamo Gallery: Riiko Sakkinen

Make Your Mark: Egs (ARCO: #Opening-programme)

Showroom Helsinki: Jiri Geller

SIC (#Opening-programme): Olli Keränen, Karri Kuoppala, Maija Luutonen, Kalle Leino, Muriel Kuoppala, Konsta Ojala, Sauli Sirviö, Timo Vaittinen ja Laura Wesamaa

Sinne: Anna Rokka

Gallery Taik Persons: Niko Luoma