Generation 2023

Amos Rex Museum (est. 2018) has become a phenomenon in the field of arts and culture in Finland. Queues to this museum are a part of urban life in Helsinki despite its population of just over 630 000. 

Amos Rex presents site-sensitive, experiential, and often technologically advanced exhibitions by contemporary artists. In recent years, the museum has hosted names such as teamLab, Studio Drift, Bill Viola or Hans Op de Beeck.  

Generation 2023 showcases art from artists 15–23 of age. It is an exceptionally quick reaction by the museum to recent years, as the works have been created during and amid recent upheavals from the pandemic to the war in Ukraine. Generation 2023 offers young artists not only a possibility to exhibit in a valued and well-known museum, but also grants to finish their artworks and support in the grant application process, as well as access to residencies and studio spaces.  

”The Generation triennial is one of Amos Rex’s boldest ventures. Exhibitions of young artists are common, but what makes Generation 2023 stand out is that the participating artists are really young. The curation of such an exhibition is exceptional in many ways, since curators have had a strong pedagogical role. It is important to ensure that the artists gain an understanding of the process of making the exhibition and presenting their works. For many artists, this is the first opportunity to open their practice to the general public”, Anastasia Isakova, curator of the exhibition, says.

In their works, the artists of Generation 2023 seek new ways to approach the most pressing issues of our time. Many put a spotlight on the state of nature, its coexistence with humankind and our way of life in the city. Other themes that emerge are questions of cultural and gender identity, reactions to the Covid-19 pandemic, memory, mental health as well as questioning established norms related to appearance and clothing. 
 
The selected works present a broad spectrum of mediums including painting, photography, textile art, graphic art and sculpture, as well as performance art, that have been an important part of the exhibition since the beginning of the triennial in 2017.

Hope for the future 
A total of 1,004 work proposals were submitted. From these impassioned, high-quality applications, the jury selected 50 artists and working pairs to participate in the exhibition. 

The artists were chosen for the exhibition by a jury led by choreographer and director Ima Iduozee. The jury included Generation 2020 artists Anna-Karoliina Vainio and Alex Luonto, museum director Kai Kartio, curators of the exhibition Anastasia Isakova, Krista Mamia and Laura Porola. 

“We have an ensemble of artists providing food for thought, conversation openers, insights, inspiration, a counterweight to the atmosphere of fear. The artists are justifiably concerned, but at the same time full of hope for the future,” says jury chair Ima Iduozee. 

Read more.