27 Sept 2025 – 11 Jan 2026

The coming year is opened with Encore!, that brings us the beloved classics, big names and pearls of contemporary art from the museum’s own collections. The exhibition is crowned by Schjerfbeck X Nordea Art Foundation Finland, which includes five paintings of Helene Schjerfbeck. In June the museum will be closed for nearly four years due to major renovation and new build.

In summer, the Art Realm ’26 biennale will be held in the Finlayson area and Haihara Art Centre, as well as in the city space. The artists for the biennale will be published in March. Also the Young Artist of the Year exhibition will be held in the Finlayson area. The Young Artist of the Year 2026 will be published 23 January 2026.

An amazing exhibition year ahead, you’re welcome!

Man Yau describes her own work as follows:

I work with sculptures and installations, often imitating everyday objects and aesthetic symbols of power. Materials and the value-laden associations tied to them are central to my work. I exploit the emotions and meanings evoked by demanding materials such as clay, silk, metal and glass – for example, ceramics can refer to the culture I supposedly come from, silk to the commercialization of the exotic, and glass to fragility.

Based in Helsinki, Man Yau is one of the most compelling contemporary artists in Finland today. Through her art, Yau explores the feeling of being on display and under pressure, approaching it from the perspective of a woman and a BIPOC artist (Black, Indigenous, and People of Color). Receiving the prestigious Young Artist of the Year award was, for her, both a surprise and a source of delight and fear.