In 2027, Kiasma will present the most extensive exhibition to date in the Nordic countries by acclaimed contemporary British artist Antony Gormley. Alongside Gormley’s exhibition, two solo exhibitions will introduce the work of leading international artists: Monster Chetwynd will transform the museum’s top floor into an imaginative world where visitors are invited to become part of the artwork, while Ann Lislegaard’s exhibition will bring together a wide selection of works spanning different stages of her career.
In the autumn, Kiasma will present a group exhibition featuring the four nominees for Ars Fennica, Finland’s most prestigious contemporary art prize. The museum’s new collection exhibition will offer a comprehensive overview of Kalervo Palsa’s oeuvre, bringing his work into dialogue with contemporary artists whose themes and artistic approaches echo those found in Palsa’s art.
Alongside the exhibitions, the Kiasma Theatre’s programme will feature a number of international guest artists as well as Finnish premieres.
Antony Gormley: Hold
February 12–November 21, 2027
Kiasma presents the most comprehensive exhibition to date in the Nordic countries by acclaimed contemporary British artist Antony Gormley. Hold will be the museum’s major exhibition for 2027. It presents a broad overview of Gormley’s oeuvre, tracing the evolution of his practice from the 1970s to the present.
The human body and its relationship to space have been central to Gormley’s practice throughout his long career. Hold explores the way the body conforms to the constraints of architecture, how imagination or perception can extend the body’s limits, and whether art can challenge the authority of architecture.
Hold animates the unique spaces of Steven Holl’s Kiasma by including whole room installations and individual sculptures that exist between the condition of architecture and the body. A series of Body Buildings constructed entirely of cardboard invite visitors to crawl their way through while other works like Clearing and Run prompt them to bow down, step over, or circle around them. Light, a fundamental element of Holl’s original vision for Kiasma, also plays a central role in Gormley’s exhibition with natural light flooding the galleries through the large skylights.
The curators of the exhibition are Simon Friese & Marie Nipper, Creator Projects.
In Kalervo Palsa's World—Kiasma Collection Exhibition
March 19–September 12, 2027
Kalervo Palsa (1947–1987) was something of a maverick on the Finnish art scene. He lived in Kittilä, in the remote north of Finland, and worked in a humble outbuilding he named “Gethsemane”. There, he painted and drew with feverish intensity, spending his entire life searching for his place in the art world. In Kalervo Palsa's World presents a comprehensive overview of Palsa’s oeuvre alongside works by contemporary artists whose themes and artistic approaches echo those found in Palsa’s work. The exhibition asks: how does Palsa’s legacy continue to resonate in contemporary art?
Throughout his extensive body of work, Palsa explored universal themes such as loneliness, death, sexuality, class, double standards, intoxicants, and life in the remote north. His art encompasses a broad range of genres, from self-portraits and comic strips to melancholic glimpses into bleak inner worlds. Palsa’s works are shown alongside pieces by artists including Edith Hammar, Siiri Haarla, Jukka Korkeila, and Ville Vuorenmaa.
The exhibition and accompanying publication present a curated selection of works from the Finnish National Gallery’s collection. Palsa’s significance within the collection is considerable: of the approximately 9,000 works of contemporary art currently held by the Finnish National Gallery, more than a third are by Palsa. Nearly his entire body of work was donated to Kiasma in 1999 by the artist’s close friend, Maj-Lis Pitkänen. The exhibition opens in 2027, marking the 80th anniversary of Palsa’s birth and 40 years since his death.
The exhibition is curated by Saara Hacklin, Saara Karhunen, and Patrik Nyberg from Kiasma.
Monster Chetwynd
April 30, 2027–January 9, 2028
In her forthcoming exhibition at Kiasma, internationally acclaimed artist Monster Chetwynd transforms the museum’s fifth floor into an imaginative world that invites visitors to become part of the artwork. Renowned for her distinctive DIY aesthetic, Chetwynd will construct an immersive installation featuring fantasy creatures, animated characters, and elements reminiscent of theatre and film sets.
Monster Chetwynd (b. 1973) was born in London and now lives in Zurich. Her practice draws inspiration from popular culture, folklore, surrealist cinema, literature and anthropology. Using papier-mâché and recycled materials, she creates striking sets, unusual costumes and animal figures that have become hallmarks of her oeuvre. Her practice celebrates community, transformation, and participation.
Chetwynd rose to international prominence following her nomination for the Turner Prize in 2012. Her work has been exhibited at major museums and contemporary art institutions around the world, most recently at the Beiqiu Museum of Contemporary Art in Nanjing and Belvedere 21 in Vienna. Before adopting the name Monster Chetwynd in 2018, she worked under the artist names Spartacus Chetwynd and Marvin Gaye Chetwynd.
The exhibition is curated by Kiasma’s Anna Mustonen.
Ars Fennica 2027
October 15, 2027–March 26, 2028
The nominees for Finland’s most prestigious contemporary art prize Ars Fennica are Anna Camner from Sweden, Anna Estarriola and Joel Slotte from Finland, and Sandra Mujinga from Norway. A joint exhibition of the nominees’ work will be presented at Kiasma from October 15, 2027 to March 26, 2028. The curator of the exhibition is Anna Mustonen of Kiasma.
The €50,000 Ars Fennica Award is Finland’s most prestigious contemporary art prize. Presented every two years by the Niemistö Art Foundation Ars Fennica, the award recognises artistic excellence and a distinctive creative vision.
The award panel appointed by the foundation has selected the four shortlisted artists and appointed the international art expert who will choose the winner. This year, the winner will be selected by curator, writer and cultural strategist Fatoş Üstek. The winner will be announced in February 2028. Following its presentation at Kiasma, the exhibition will travel to Kunstsilo in Kristiansand, Norway, marking a new Nordic collaboration initiated by the Niemistö Art Foundation Ars Fennica.
The award panel responsible for selecting the nominees and international expert is chaired by Leena Niemistö, MD. The other members are Museum Director Kiira Miesmaa (Kiasma), Museum Director Arja Miller (HAM Helsinki Art Museum), art critic Sanna Lipponen, and Head of Collections Else-Brit Kroneberg (Kunstsilo, Norway).
The Niemistö Art Foundation Ars Fennica was established in 1990 to spark interest in the arts by creating new international connections for Finnish art, supporting artists in their creative work, and fostering a wider public appreciation of art.
Ann Lislegaard: ANIMOID
November 5, 2027–February 27, 2028
What does it mean to be human in the midst of technological upheaval and species extinction? This question lies at the heart of Norwegian artist Ann Lislegaard’s exhibition ANIMOID, which brings together a comprehensive selection of works spanning different stages of her career.
The exhibition’s central themes come into focus through Oracles, Owls… some animals never sleep (2012/2021), in which an animated owl takes on the role of an oracle. Perched in a state of drowsy alertness, the owl vocalises fragmented phrases that dissolve before they can be fully understood. Attentive listeners may recognise echoes of dialogue from the science fiction film Blade Runner.
Both the owl and the exhibition’s title reference Philip K. Dick’s classic science fiction novel Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?, the original inspiration for Blade Runner. In Dick’s imagined future, extinct animals have been replaced by artificial counterparts. Drawing on science fiction, Lislegaard explores how technology and language shape our experience of the world. As a pioneer in the use of digital technologies and 3D animation in contemporary art, she investigates themes of gender, interspecies communication, and biodiversity loss through animation, sculpture, and sound and light installations.
The exhibition is curated by Piia Oksanen of Kiasma and organised in collaboration with the Henie Onstad Kunstsenter (Norway), the Arken Museum of Contemporary Art (Denmark), and the Kunstmuseum Wolfsburg (Germany).
Kiasma Theatre 2027
The Kiasma Theatre’s 2027 programme brings together international guest performances and Finnish premieres.
The international programme features performances by Angela Goh, Jefta van Dinther and Chiara Bersani. The Danish performance company Myka invites infants, toddlers and their families to dive into underwater worlds with Hyper Coral, a holistic dance performance that combines movement and sensory experiences.
A new performance by Katri Kainulainen and Maximilian Latva will premiere in conjunction with the upcoming Kalervo Palsa exhibition. The Finnish programme includes performances by Teatteri Venus, Selma Savolainen, Emmi Venna, Sonya Lindfors, and the artist duo Pauli Patinen and Martta Jylhä.
The Kiasma Theatre programme is curated by Jonna Strandberg from Kiasma.
