25th edition

ANTI – Contemporary Art Festival will take place for the 25th time in Kuopio, Finland on September 15–20, 2026.

From the very beginning, participating in the ANTI Festival has been an experience that revolutionises one’s thinking and understanding of the arts and the world. The anniversary programme explores alternative ways of seeing and presenting, and highlights perspectives on the festival’s history, the present, and the future.

“In addition to the anniversary year, the programming has been driven by the festival’s ongoing desire to envision queer feminist futures in collaboration with artists. Onur Tayranoǧlu (Turkey), Julischka Stengele (Austria), and Keioui Keijaun Thomas (United States) all deconstruct, in their own ways, the illusions and assumptions of melancholy associated with queer lives, and build spaces for recovery and social transformation”, Lead Curator Elisa Itkonen writes.

To celebrate the 25th anniversary, we have put together a diverse programme of artistic and discursive events. It includes, for example, an installation and a typographic poster series by the festival’s long-term graphic designer, artist Tomi Leppänen (Finland), as well as the ANTI 25 podcast series and discussion events. We will also revisit the venues and works of past ANTI Festivals through lecture performances by Kira O’Reilly (Ireland) and Tuomas Laitinen (Finland).

Read the full curatorial statement, including descriptions of the festival works, on our website.

The ANTI Festival programme presents live art works by international and Finland based artists in various different locations across the city of Kuopio. All events are free of charge for the audiences. For the first time, we have also opened up the festival week to a partner programme, and ANTI itself is part of the Kuopio Art Weeks.

Main programme
Onur Tayranoǧlu (TR): Queer Autonomous Zone (Kuopio)
Keioui Keijaun Thomas (US): Come Hell or High Femmes: The Dolls Rise
Julischka Stengele (AT): Offering Space
Kira O’Reilly (IE): Untitled Performance Lecture (a gift, redux)
Tuomas Laitinen (FI): Life is temporary
Tomi Leppänen (FI): (empty space)
Sara Grotenfelt, Lotta Hildén & Tuisku Ojanperä (FI): Kids’ Station
Katja Hänninen & Laura Jänicke (FI): stoneless
Festival Club: Elsi Sloan (FI)

Partner programme
Dance Theatre Tsuumi & Sonja Jokiniemi (FI): Kyynelpaikka workshop
Tekstin talo (FI): Learning Lab for Text Workers
Kuopio Art Weeks (FI)
ILME (FI), Adam Kinner & Christopher Willes (CA): MANUAL (in Oulu, Finland)

Read more about the programme.

More coming up
During the summer, the festival programme will be complemented. The daily schedule and bookings (required to some of the performances) for the festival will be published in August.