Helsinki as A Global Meeting Point for Art Professionals

From 5–8 June 2025, the Helsinki Biennial welcomed the international art world to its Professional Programme — a dynamic preview of the third edition of the Biennial, Shelter — Below and Beyond, Becoming and Belonging.

Helsinki Biennial 8.6.–21.9.2025. Photo: Helsinki Biennial / HAM.

The programme drew around 600 accredited art professionals from across the globe. Curators, museum directors, artists, and researchers gathered in Helsinki to experience a city transformed into a living exhibition. With 37 artists and collectives from 30 countries, many on-site to discuss their works, the programme offered a rare opportunity for dialogue between creators and professionals in situ.

Sara Bjarland: Stranding, 2025. Helsinki Biennial 8.6.–21.9.2025, Vallisaari Island. Photo: HAM / Helsinki Biennial / Sonja Hyytiäinen

Across three days, participants joined guided tours, academic-level panels, discussions, and networking events, with visits to all three Biennial locations — Vallisaari Island, Esplanade Park, and HAM Helsinki Art Museum. Collaboration with Frame Contemporary Art Finland and Helsinki’s cultural institutions further anchored the programme in the city’s vibrant art scene.

HB 25 at CHART Talks in Copenhagen in August 2025. The talk explored innovative approaches and challenges in creating sustainable exhibitions, featuring insights from the Helsinki Biennial. The biennale looks at the transformative potential of art, and encourages responsible action towards sustainable exhibition-making. Participants included Arja Miller, Director of the HAM Helsinki Art Museum in Finland, Kati Kivinen, Head of Exhibitions at the HAM Helsinki Art Museum and Head Curator for the Helsinki Biennial 2025, Hans Rosenström, Finnish artist represented at the Helsinki Biennial 2025. Moderated by Aino Frilander, Finnish journalist and author and a staff writer and editor at Helsingin Sanomat, where she covers art and design.

Photo credit: Art Insider PR

Survey results confirm its international reach: 57% of participants were visitors from abroad, underscoring Helsinki’s growing role as a hub for global artistic exchange. Feedback highlighted the high quality of presentations, the value of networking, and the presence of artists at their works — an element that distinguished Helsinki from other biennials and offers art professionals and artists unique networking opportunities.

HAM Helsinki Art Museum. Photo: HAM/Helsinki Biennaali

Looking ahead, the Biennial will continue to strengthen its professional offer. The next edition is scheduled for 2027, to be curated by Mami Kataoka, Director of the Mori Art Museum in Tokyo, and Arja Miller, Director of HAM Helsinki Art Museum, both respected curators with long-standing experience in leading institutions that bridge local and international art dialogues.

With over half a million visitors in 2025 overall, the Biennial has confirmed its place as a major international event, and the Professional Programme remains central — fostering networks, collaborations, and new conversations about art’s role in a changing world.

Olafur Eliasson: Viewing machine, 2001/2003, detail. Helsinki Biennial 8.6.–21.9.2025, Vallisaari Island. © 2001/2003 Olafur Eliasson. Photo: HAM / Helsinki Biennial / Maija Toivanen

Images credits.

From left to right: 1-2. Yayoi Kusama: Flowers that Bloom Tomorrow, 2011. Helsinki Biennial 8.6.–21.9.2025, HAM Helsinki Art Museum. Photo: HAM / Helsinki Biennial / Sonja Hyytiäinen. 3-4. HAM Helsinki Art Museum. Photo: HAM/Helsinki Biennaal. 5-6. Olafur Eliasson: Viewing machine, 2001/2003. Helsinki Biennial 8.6.–21.9.2025, Vallisaari Island. © 2001/2003 Olafur Eliasson. Photo: HAM / Helsinki Biennial / Maija Toivanen. 6-7. Tue Greenfort: Limulus Polyphemus Lampisaari (Pond Island), 2025. Helsinki Biennial 8.6.–21.9.2025, Vallisaari Island. Courtesy of König Galerie. Photo: HAM / Helsinki Biennial / Sonja Hyytiäinen. 8-9. Otobong Nkanga: Tied to the Other Side, 2021. Helsinki Biennial 8.6.–21.9.2025, HAM Helsinki Art Museum. Photo: HAM / Helsinki Biennial / Sonja Hyytiäinen. 9-10. Ingela Ihrman: The Giant Hogweed, 2020. Helsinki Biennial 8.6.–21.9.2025, HAM Helsinki Art Museum. Photo: HAM / Helsinki Biennial / Sonja Hyytiäinen. 11-12. Sara Bjarland: Stranding, 2025. Helsinki Biennial 8.6.–21.9.2025, Vallisaari Island. Photo: HAM / Helsinki Biennial / Sonja Hyytiäinen. 13-14. Tania Candiani: Sonic Seeds, 2025, detail. Helsinki Biennial 8.6.–21.9.2025, Vallisaari Island.Photo: HAM / Helsinki Biennial / Maija Toivanen