The Sustainable Visual Arts Day on 26 April 2024 brings together visual arts professionals and organisations to learn about ecologically sustainable practices and envision a greener future together. The event will also introduce the Sustainable Visual Arts Network and launch the Vihreataide.fi (Green Art) website. Register for the event by 12 April!
The Sustainable Visual Arts Day includes discussions and presentations on good practices and means to promote the sustainability transition of the visual arts sector and society as a whole. In the afternoon workshops, participants will envision ways to create a more sustainable future.
The event can be attended on-site in Helsinki or remotely via a live stream. The event will take place on Friday 26 April 2024 in Helsinki at the University of the Arts auditorium 1 in Sörnäinen (Haapaniemenkatu 6) from 10 am to 4 pm. The building is accessible and different floors can be accessed by lift. There are five accessible seats in the auditorium.
The language of the event is Finnish if not mentioned otherwise. English interpretation will be available in Zoom. There will be a space at the event location where English-speaking participants will be able to follow the morning programme with an English interpretation. One of the afternoon workshops will be held in English.
Registration is now open and closes on Friday 12 April at 2 pm.
We hope for a widespread participation in the event, and therefore we will compensate reasonable travel expenses for participants from outside Helsinki. Please let us know here if you would be interested in the opportunity.
Event programme
9:30 Morning coffee at TeaK Tori
10:00 Circulating Abundance, Rhythms of Rest, artist Alyssa Coffin
10:15 Programme in the Auditorium 1
- Welcome, Raija Koli, Frame Contemporary Art Finland and Mika Elo, The University of the Arts
- Introducing the Sustainable Visual Arts Network, Paula Toppila, IHME Helsinki
- Keynote speech: ‘The role of culture in the sustainability transition’, researchers Karoliina Lummaa & Paavo Järvensivu, BIOS
- Keynote videospeech: ‘The Sacred, the System and the Place of Shelter’, curator, Head of Ecologies Lucia Pietroiusti, Serpentine Galleries
11:25 Break
11:45 Programme in the Auditorium 1
- Introducing the Green Art website and calculator (vihreataide.fi), Sara Salminen, Sitowise and Saara Korpela, Frame Contemporary Art Finland
- How did you do it? How shall we do it?
Short presentations on advancing ecological sustainability
⬝ Ecological sustainability in the work of a visual artist, Satu Kalliokuusi, Helsinki Artists’ Association
⬝ Sculpture as a carbon sink, Eero Merimaa, Turku UAS’ Arts Academy
⬝ Sustainable model for lens-based art biennale, Henri Airo, Utopias Lahti
⬝ Green handprint, Kersti Tainio, Sinebrychoffin museo, The Finnish National Gallery
⬝ Living through postfossil search, Saara-Maria Kariranta, Mustarinda Association
⬝ Walking the talk: Extinction Rebellion’s challenge to cultural organisations, Maria Pääkkönen, Extinction Rebellion
⬝ LuoTo: Sustainability actions in the cultural sector, Jaana Eskola, Helsinki-Uusimaa Regional Council
⬝ Where to find support for sustainability transition?, Kalle Korhonen, Kone Foundation
12:45 Lunch at TeaK Tori
1:45 Workshops in the Auditorium 1
The afternoon workshops will network and work on future utopias and concrete actions from the perspective of each arts organisation. The workshop will be led by foresight expert Noora Vähäkari and global education expert Anna Kivimäki-Pelluz, Fingo. Fingo is an umbrella organisation for around 260 Finnish NGO’s and an expert on global development.
3:30–4:00 Workshop wrap-up and the next steps of the network
The event is part of The Green Art project led by Frame which has received support from the Ministry of Education and Culture for the renewal of culture and creative industries. The funding is part of the Next Generation EU programme.
The project involves operators in contemporary art and art education in Finland: Frame Contemporary Art Finland, The Mustarinda Association, Kunsthalle Helsinki, the Artists’ Association of Finland, the Academy of Fine Arts of the Uniarts Helsinki and the Arts Academy of Turku University of Applied Sciences. Other expert partners include the EMMA – Espoo Museum of Modern Art, HIAP – Helsinki International Artist Programme, IHME Helsinki, the Finnish National Gallery, Finnish Museums Association, Pro Artibus Foundation and the Finnish Artists’ Studio Foundation.
Accessibility
The building is fully accessible, with lifts to the floors and five accessible seats in the auditorium.
Our office follows our safer space guidelines. We appreciate all the participants for taking the guidelines into account.
More information:
Iida Heiskala
Project Assistant
iida.heiskala@frame-finland.fi
