This summer, the Finnish capital offers the perfect setting to experience the unique blend of contemporary art and nature. Helsinki Biennial 2025 brings together 37 artists and collectives on Vallisaari Island, in Esplanade Park, and at HAM Helsinki Art Museum. The theme of this third edition of the major contemporary art event is Shelter: Below and Beyond, Becoming and Belonging. Helsinki Biennial takes place from 8 June to 21 September 2025.
Helsinki Biennial 2025 showcases artists from around the world. A total of 37 artists and artist collectives are participating, representing 30 different cultures, with a particular emphasis on the Nordic countries, Latin America, and Asia. Of the artists and collectives, 25 have their work exhibited on Vallisaari Island, 5 in Esplanade Park, and 15 at HAM Helsinki Art Museum. There are 57 works and ensembles in total, about half of which are premiering in Helsinki. Helsinki Biennial 2025 includes 13 commissioned works. This edition features, for example, mixed-media installations, works that honour traditional craftsmanship, sound sculptures, and ceramics that offer shelter.
Mayor of Helsinki Daniel Sazonov:
“We are delighted to welcome visitors to the third edition of Helsinki Biennial. Helsinki is a vibrant city of events, and the biennial has found a special place in Helsinki’s events calendar and the hearts of the residents. Creativity, art, the maritime environment, and a close connection to nature play an important role in the everyday wellbeing of people in Helsinki. This year, this major contemporary art event gains a new dimension as it extends to Esplanade Park. Helsinki aims to be a flourishing cultural city where art offers pleasant surprises and helps us to view familiar places from new perspectives.”
Director of HAM Helsinki Art Museum and Helsinki Biennial Arja Miller:
“Helsinki Biennial is based on the unique connection between art, nature, and the maritime city – it makes us special in the international biennial scene. The wild nature of Vallisaari Island, urban rhythm of Esplanade Park, and HAM’s museum spaces create stages where contemporary art can live, breath, and transform. Helsinki Biennial is a dialogue between art, the city and its residents, and nature. At the biennial, you can rest, gain insights, learn, and have fun. The artworks are meant to be experienced using all the senses, and, above all, they are there to be enjoyed.”
Helsinki Biennial 2025 explores the significance of shelter
The curators of Helsinki Biennial 2025, Blanca de la Torre and Kati Kivinen, drew inspiration from the protected Vallisaari Island, which has been off-limits for human habitation for decades. Helsinki Biennial 2025 explores the significance of shelter and turns the gaze towards non-human nature. In the works, the focus shifts from humans to animals, water, plants, insects, minerals, and other living beings and their role as contributors to our planet’s wellbeing.
Helsinki Biennial 2025 Curators Blanca de la Torre and Kati Kivinen:
“We are thrilled to kick off Helsinki Biennial 2025. We are deeply grateful to all the hands, minds, and hearts that made the biennial possible – it is the result of a joint effort. Art provides shelter and comfort in many ways, both conceptually and physically. The concept of shelter serves as a reminder of our interdependence and eco-dependence in preserving the future. Shelter is not just a refuge, but a relationship in which boundaries between the living and the non-living blur, encouraging us to explore what coexistence with non-human creatures truly means, in all its nuances.”
Vallisaari Island, a former military site just 15 minutes from Helsinki, sets the tone for this year’s Helsinki Biennial with its protected ecosystem and immersive natural setting. Artworks explore interspecies connections and sensory experiences: Tania Candiani’s Subterra and Band of Weeds’ The Weep of Trees translate hidden life into sound, while Kati Roover’s Songs in the Ocean links whales and humans.
Some works consider non-humans as audiences—Nomeda & Gediminas Urbonas’ sound installation repurposes drainage pipes for interspecies dialogue, and Raimo Saarinen’s Invasive Scent centers on olfaction. The theme of shelter is explored through Sara Bjarland’s bronze sculptures shaped from discarded pool toys and Pia Sirén’s immersive landscape Under Cover, the first installation visitors encounter. Ernesto Neto’s SaariBird invites empathy through a bird’s perspective, while Ana Teresa Barboza’s Interwoven Stories weaves Amazonian and Nordic plant fibers to reflect on shared ecological histories.
At HAM Helsinki Art Museum, murals by Regina de Miguel and Marjetica Potrč, a video by Jenni Laiti and Carl-Johan Utsi, and embroidery by Edgar Calel reflect Indigenous knowledge. Meanwhile, several works by Maria Thereza Alves, Ingela Ihrman, LOCUS/Thale Blix Fastvold & Tanja Thorjussen, Laura Põld, Tamara Henderson, Aluaiy Kaumakan, and Otobong Nkanga use plants as symbols, materials or subjects, and explore resilience and ecological balance. Highlights include textiles by Carola Grahn and sculptures by Theresa Traore Dahlberg.
Helsinki Biennial 2025 is designed for a wide audience, and its accessibility has been improved with a new venue in the centre of Helsinki. During the event, outstanding contemporary art can be experienced for free in Esplanade Park. At the park, featured works include Geraldine Javier’s Earth, Water, Air, Fire, Void, Katie Holten’s Learning to Be Better Lovers, insect hotels by Kalle Hamm and Dzamil Kamanger, Giuseppe Penone’s 12-meter Luce e Ombra, and Gediminas Urbonas’ Unmelting Black (Snowman 1:1)—a granite snowman that never melts.
Made with big heart for broad audience
Helsinki Biennial spans three locations and offers three free admission days. At HAM Helsinki Art Museum, works tailored for museum spaces are on view. While standard admission applies, entry is free on 12 June (Helsinki Day), 27 June, 25 July, 9 August (Tove Jansson and Finnish Art Day), and 29 August.
The Vallisaari Island exhibition is free, though standard ferry rides cost €10.90 round-trip. City of Helsinki offers free on 27 June, 25 July, and 29 August. Additionally, City of Helsinki offers free visits for pupils in grades 1–9 during August and September 2025.
Helsinki Deputy Mayor for Culture and Leisure Paavo Arhinmäki:
“Helsinki Biennial’s central aim is to make high-quality international and Finnish contemporary art accessible to all Helsinki residents. That is why ensuring broad access to Vallisaari Island is so important. We have succeeded to nearly halve the price of the ferry ticket compared to the 2023 biennial. Additionally, the City of Helsinki is offering three days of complimentary ferry service to Vallisaari. Special attention is also given to schoolchildren: we are offering up to 10,000 comprehensive school pupils free ferry rides to and from Vallisaari. This initiative allows schools to explore both art and the maritime environment in a cross-curricular way.”
