Finnish Pavilion
Background
The Venice Biennale is an international art biennial exhibition held in Venice, Italy. Often described as "the Olympics of the art world", participation in the Biennale is a prestigious event for contemporary artists. The festival has become a constellation of shows: a central exhibition curated by that year's artistic director, national pavilions hosted by individual nations, and independent exhibitions throughout Venice. The Biennale parent organization also hosts regular festivals in other arts: architecture, dance, film, music, and theater.
Outside of the central, international exhibition, individual nations produce their own shows, known as pavilions, as their national representation. Nations that own their pavilion buildings, such as the 30 housed on the Giardini, are responsible for their own upkeep and construction costs as well. Nations without dedicated buildings create pavilions in venues throughout the city.
Since 2013, the Frame Contemporary Art Finland foundation has commissioned and produced exhibitions for the Finnish pavilion as part of its mission to promote contemporary Finnish art.
Organization and building
The pavilion, designed by Alvar Aalto, was built between 1955 and 1956. It was later restored by Fredrik Fogh between 1976 and 1982. The building was briefly lent to Iceland following the restoration, but has been used by Finland since.
Representation by year
 | This section needs additional citations for verification. (May 2019) |
Art
- 2005 — Jaakko Heikkilä
- 2007 — Maaria Wirkkala
- 2011 — Vesa-Pekka Rannikko (Curator: Laura Köönikkä)
- 2013 — Antti Laitinen, Terike Haapoja (Curators: Mika Elo, Marko Karo Harri Laakso)
- 2015 — IC-98 – Visa Suonpää, Patrik Söderlund (Curator: Taru Elfving)
- 2017 — Erkka Nissinen, Nathaniel Mellors (Curator: Xander Karskens)
- 2019 — Miracle Workers Collective
- 2021 — Pilvi Takala
- 2024 – Pia Lindman, Vidha Saumya, Jenni-Juulia Wallinheimo-Heimonen (Curators: Yvonne Billimore Jussi Koitela)
References
- ^ Russeth 2019.
- ^ Selvin, Claire (February 5, 2020). "Celebrated Video and Performance Artist Pilvi Takala Will Represent Finland at 2021 Venice Biennale". ARTnews. Retrieved February 17, 2022.
- ^ "Past editions". Frame Contemporary Art Finland. Retrieved February 17, 2022.
- ^ Volpi 2013.
- ^ Hannah Ghorashi (April 13, 2016), Erkka Nissinen and Nathaniel Mellors To Represent Finland at the 2017 Venice Biennale Archived May 12, 2019, at the Wayback Machine ARTnews.
- ^ Russeth, Andrew (May 8, 2018). "Finland Taps Miracle Workers Collective for 2019 Venice Biennale". ARTnews.com. Archived from the original on January 16, 2021. Retrieved August 28, 2021.
- ^ Selvin, Claire (February 5, 2020). "Celebrated Video and Performance Artist Pilvi Takala Will Represent Finland at 2021 Venice Biennale". ARTnews.com. Archived from the original on February 15, 2020. Retrieved February 15, 2020.
- ^ Alex Greenberger (28 March 2023), A Guide to the 2024 Venice Biennale National Pavilions ARTnews.
Bibliography
- Russeth, Andrew (April 17, 2019). "The Venice Biennale: Everything You Could Ever Want to Know". ARTnews. Archived from the original on April 20, 2019. Retrieved April 22, 2019.
- Volpi, Cristiana (2013). "Finland". In Re Rebaudengo, Adele (ed.). Pavilions and Garden of Venice Biennale. Rome: Contrasto. p. 187. ISBN 978-88-6965-440-4.
Further reading
- "Finland (Pavilion Alvar Aalto) at the 56th Venice Biennale". Artsy. May 4, 2015. Archived from the original on May 13, 2019. Retrieved May 12, 2019.
- Frearson, Amy (June 14, 2014). "Huts demonstrate regional building techniques at the Finnish Pavilion". Dezeen. Archived from the original on May 12, 2019. Retrieved May 12, 2019.
- Talamini, Gianni (June 10, 2017). Against Aalto : How the Finnish Pavilion at the Venice Biennale had to change into a black box for contemporary video art and how it became a symbol for artists to defeat.
