Autumn at the Academy of Fine Arts: personal stories, international collaborations and artistic research in times of crises
The Academy of Fine Arts has a versatile exhibition line-up for autumn 2025. The academy will showcase works inspired by the personal experiences of soon-to-be bachelor’s graduates, resume international exchange exhibitions after a five-year break and call people to reflect on the role of artistic research in times of crises.
Uniarts Helsinki’s Academy of Fine Arts presents an exciting autumn term of exhibitions: the yearly BFA exhibition, an exchange exhibition with the Berlin University of the Arts and an artistic research exhibition titled Idiorrhythmic Imaginaries, which will all take turns taking over the Kuva/Tila gallery located on Sörnäisten rantatie. The Tasku gallery, on the other hand, gives students the chance to arrange solo exhibitions in a more intimate setting, and the new exhibition space Myllytori provides a cross-section of everyday activities of the Academy of Fine Arts.
Original perspectives on delicate topics in the BFA Exhibition
The BFA Exhibition presents works by 26 upcoming Bachelor of Fine Arts graduates representing all subject areas of the Academy of Fine Arts: painting, sculpture, printmaking and time and space arts. The featured artists in the 2025 edition of the BFA Exhibition dare to delve into sensitive subjects in distinctive ways. Through the works, the world is revealed as self-reflection, observation of one’s surroundings, and delicate perception. The diversity of the artworks and the well-considered installation are the exhibition’s strengths, allowing the works to engage in dialogue with one another. The exhibition features works that deal with powerful personal and societal turning points.
BFA exhibition, 12 September–15 October 2025, Kuva/Tila.
An exchange exhibition connects Helsinki and Berlin
The Academy of Fine Arts is resuming international exchange exhibitions after a five-year break by joining forces with Berlin University of the Arts (UdK). The exhibition, titled Einladung, is the outcome of discussions in small groups and collaborative works. The name of the exhibition means invitation in German – people are invited to come along, to stay and to interact. It evokes an open gesture, a shared moment and a chance for showing hospitality.
Einladung, 31 October–23 November 2025, Kuva/Tila.
Future and artistic research amidst crises
How can we imagine a future in a world that seems to be determined by various crises? And what is the role of artistic research in times of crises? The research exhibition conceived by Henk Slager explores individual rhythms, the possibilities of community and imaginary worlds. The works challenge norms and create space for radical imagination.
Idiorrhythmic Imaginaries, 5–21 December 2025, Kuva/Tila.
Bees and hands symbolise profound topics in the Tasku gallery exhibitions
The paintings in the exhibition Tell the Bees by Heidi Forsman build connections between the symbolism associated with bees, death rituals and the circle of life. She depicts bees as messengers between life and the afterlife.
Sofi Häkkinen’s exhibition Performing Fisting Forest is a sculpture installation infused with a performance element. The presence of human bodies in the installation and its modification during the performance highlights an important factor in Häkkinen’s artistic thinking: hands. Besides the concrete doing of things, hands are also linked to remembering and time. It is hard to remember things if we cannot touch them – and the thing that hurts the most is time.
Tell the Bees and Performing Fisting Forest, 31 October 2025, Tasku.
Myllytori exhibits the most current art at the Academy of Fine Arts
Myllytori is a window to the artistic work and teaching of the Academy of Fine Arts that otherwise would stay hidden from the public eye. The regularly changing short-term exhibitions feature works by students and researchers in various stages of their studies or artistic careers, including course works and group projects.