John Nurminen Foundation is a partner in the Helsinki Biennial 2025
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Helsinki Biennial is an international art event that brings outstanding contemporary art to Helsinki’s archipelago nature again in the summer of 2025. John Nurminen Foundation is a partner in the event and engaged in the work progress of LOCUS: artists Thale Blix Fastvold and Tanja Thorjussen.
Helsinki Biennial 2025 will present the work of around 35 artists and artist groups from Finland and around the world. As a partner of the event John Nurminen Foundation supports and participates in the production of the work of LOCUS.
LOCUS est. 2006 by artists Thale Blix Fastvold (b.1978) and Tanja Thorjussen (b.1970), based in Oslo, Norway, works from an ecofeminist perspective with performance and public art in long-term collaborations with the more-than-human cohabitors of the earth like rivers, trees, eelgrass and pollinators.
The theme of the third edition, Shelter, is inspired by Vallisaari’s island habitat. Surrounded by sea, this rich ecosystem has been preserved from human habitation for decades, providing a perfect shelter for diverse life forms to flourish. This undisturbed refuge also offers visitors a rare opportunity to imagine what unfolds when humans step back and non-human actors take prominence.
“Our exhibition the Unknown Baltic Sea last year at Suomenlinna showed us the power of Helsinki’s islands as a meeting place for art. Therefore, it is wonderful to continue exploring the relationship between humans and the sea through art, in collaboration with Helsinki Biennial, which has embraced Helsinki’s maritime identity as an international meeting place. I believe we should make the most of our beautiful nature and waterways, and I’m thrilled to work with the talented professionals at Helsinki Biennial”, says Annamari Arrakoski-Engardt, CEO of John Nurminen Foundation.
Helsinki Biennial brings a summer-long celebration of art to the Finnish capital from June 8 to September 21, 2025, across many venues: Vallisaari Island, Esplanade Park, and HAM Helsinki Art Museum. The full biennial programme will be announced in spring 2025.
