Young Artist of the Year
The Young Artist of the Year is a rising star, radiating boldness, creativity, and talent. The annual exhibition at the Tampere Art Museum celebrates internationally intriguing artists under the age of 35, providing them with space and support to shine.
For four decades, this prestigious Nordic art award has highlighted emerging Finnish contemporary artists and preserved the works of the most promising talents for future generations.
The national Young Artist of the Year initiative was launched in 1984 at the suggestion of the Junior Chamber International Tampere.
Starting in 2025, the selected artist will receive a €25,000 grant and the opportunity to hold a solo exhibition at the Tampere Art Museum. A publication will also be produced to accompany the exhibition.
The Young Artist of the Year 2025 is Man Yau
Visual artist Man Yau has been nominated as the Young Artist of the Year 2025. She is the 41st recipient of this nationally notable art award. Her exhibition will be seen at the Tampere Art Museum autumn 2025.
Man Yau (b. 1991) is an artist based in Helsinki, Finland. Yau holds master’s degrees from both the Aalto University of Art and Design (MA, 2018), and the Academy of Fine Arts, University of the Arts Helsinki (MFA, 2023), specializing in material-based practice.
The premise of her artistic work is to explore the feeling of “being on display and under pressure,” a concept she approaches from the perspective of a woman and a BIPOC artist (black, indigenous, and (other) people of color). Yau works with sculptures and installations, often incorporating objects or situations recognizable from everyday surroundings. This includes appropriated aesthetics such as Chinoiserie decoration, or larger spatial structures such as monarch gardens – places where power is represented by forcing a living symmetry. Yau draws on the cultural specificity of different material textures, along with the emotions and connotations those materials evoke.
Young Artists of the Year since 1985
2025 – Man Yau
2024 – Suvi Sysi
2023 – Eetu Huhtala
2022 – Emma Jääskeläinen
2021 – Joel Slotte
2020 – Aapo Huhta
2019 – Nastja Säde Rönkkö
2018 – Illusia Juvani (prev. J.A. Juvani)
2017 – Tiina Pyykkinen
2016 – Reima Nevalainen
2015 – Ville Andersson
2014 – Janne Nabb and Maria Teeri
2013 – Jarno Vesala
2012 – Ari Pelkonen
2011 – Anna Tuori
2010 – Anni Leppälä
2009 – Hannu Karjalainen
2008 – Samuli Heimonen
2007 – Hans-Christian Berg (HC Berg)
2006 – Heta Kuchka
2005 – Viggo Wallensköld
2004 – Kim Simonsson
2003 – Samu Raatikainen
2002 – Ulrika Ferm
2001 – Tülay Schakir
2000 – Nanna Susi
1999 – Janne Kaitala, Jukka Korkeila, Janne Räisänen
1998 – Frank Kappas
1997 – Tommi Grönlund ja Petteri Nisunen
1996 – Kaisu Koivisto
1995 – Esko Männikkö
1994 – Susanne Gottberg
1993 – Paavo Räbinä
1992 – Osmo Rauhala
1991 – Markus Konttinen
1990 – Eija-Liisa Ahtila, Maria Ruotsala, Jarmo Kurki, Juha Saitajoki
1989 – Mari Rantanen
Grants: Jan-Erik Andersson, Anita Jenssen
1988 – Outi Kirves
Grants: Marikki Hakola, Marja Kanervo
1987 – Radoslaw Gryta
Grants: Pekka Kauhanen, Tuula Lehtinen, Harri Leppänen, Teemu Saukkonen
1986 – Tero Laaksonen
Grants: Martti Aiha, Chris af Enehielm, Kuutti Lavonen, Tapani Mikkonen
1985 – Kristian Krokfors
Grants: Kari Cavén, Markku Kivinen, Taisto Rauta