December 9–12, 2025
Helsinki 00097
Finland
Kuva Research Days is an annual event organised by the Academy of Fine Arts of the University of the Arts Helsinki since 2015. The next event takes place December 9–12, 2025 in Helsinki, Finland. During the Research Days the public has an opportunity to participate in discussions about art and research generated by talks and performances by the Academy of Fine Arts researchers and doctoral students as well as guest speakers.
The first day (December 9) celebrates the past ten years and more to come of Kuva Research Days and dives into the diverse journey of the past, present and emerging doctoral projects. The anniversary coverage includes a curated setting of artistic research in-their-making, on display in the White Studio: a series of “objectiles”, framed from within ongoing projects by four current doctoral researchers who have started their doctoral studies in the 2020’s. As part of this day, the Academy of Fine Arts doctoral alumnae will realise their current or past research as a series of ‘timelines’ within the parameters of the White Studio as a play on the ‘poster’ sessions at more traditional academic conferences. The “objectiles” and “posters” form a group display, an exhibition, and a space for symposia presentations all at once.
The second day (December 10) brings together philosophers, artists and researchers to share thoughts on colour, painting and language. The language of the day is Finnish. Presentations provided by: Martta Heikkilä, Riikka Stewen, Aki Turunen, Maria Matinmikko, Harald Arnkil and Siiri Haarla.
This year the sixth Research Pavilion has a two-day module (December 11–12) at the Kuva Research Days. It is a series of discursive and performative presentations that resonate with the projects presented in the (eponymous - delete) Research Pavilion exhibition Idiorrhytmic Imaginaries at the Academy of Fine Arts’ Kuva/Tila gallery, curated by Henk Slager (December 5–21). The following questions form the starting point of this research exhibition: What will the future look like? How can we imagine future in a time that seems determined by various crises? And what will be the role of artistic research in this?
Presentations provided by: Amanda Beech, Bassam El Baroni, Noora Karjalainen, Marleena Huuhka, Jaime Belmonte & Paola Guzman, Kristiina Koskinen in conversation with Iris van der Tuin, Dom Schlienger in conversation with Tere Vaden, Veli Lehtovaara, and Heidi Hänninen with a guided tour to public art projects in Kontula suburb in Helsinki.
The next day day continues with a series of discursive and performative presentations: Christian Nyampeta, Sophie Durand, Rut Karin Zettergren, and Joanna Kalm. In addition, there will be a presentation of recent artistic research journals (Harri Laakso, Ruukku: Re-imagining; Behzad Khosravi Noori, Vis: Brieftopia) that draw attention to similar research issues, as well as a presentation by the recently launched Centre for Art and the Political Imaginary (CAPIM) in Sweden (Mick Wilson, Kerry Guinan).
