Enabling change through arts and culture

Welcome to the Finnish Institute

For more than 30 years, we have been enriching cultural connections, empowering voices and building bridges between Finland, the UK, and Ireland. We identify signals of change in the fields of art, culture and society.

Basic Forms (of Urban Life) brings Finnish design values and play culture to London’s Barbican

AUTOPSY features Finnish artists at Seventeen Gallery, London

Open Call – Finnish Artist Residency in Scotland

Recoding Realities—Residency Open Call for Media Artists in London

Pirkko Saisio at European Writers' Festival in London

Valo / Light – Open Call at Fruitmarket in Edinburgh for Finnish and Finland-based artists

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Latest media

Stay informed with the latest updates, insights, and podcasts from the Finnish Institute, showcasing arts and culture.

A group of people gathers on the bottom steps of a grand stone building, as one woman gestures and speaks to them.

Cultural Connections returns: UK–Finland partnership to support emerging creative professionals

9th July 2026

A man sits on a stool, illuminated by a large black and white projection of a vast, desolate landscape behind him.

Tianjun Li Selected through Valo/Light Open Call to exhibit at the Fruitmarket in Scotland

11th June 2026

A smiling woman wearing large dark green glasses and a black textured top against a blurred green background.

Kanerva Lehtonen appointed as Head of Communications and Development

3rd June 2026

An indoor art installation featuring tall tree trunks, large textured brown sculptures (one on scaffolding), and a long log adorned with small figures and a red apple, on a white textured ground.

Benjamin Orlow presents 'Ritual City' at the Nordic Pavilion at Venice Biennale 2026

4th May 2026

Text: Celebrate Finnish Arts and Culture. To the right, a collage of images depicting people, art, and landscapes.

The Institute is looking for a Head of Communications and Development

6th February 2026

A person performs a one-handed breakdance move in a flurry of white particles against a dark background.

Celebrating 10 Years of Finnish Circus Arts in the UK

5th February 2026

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Events

Explore our events and programme.

Overhead shot of a public square with brightly colored, modular tables and stools in geometric shapes, some arranged in patterns, with a child standing on one and an adult walking nearby.

Basic Forms (of Urban Life) brings Finnish design values and play culture to London’s Barbican

A person with wet, dark hair in a gray tank top and decorative red belt leans forward intensely with clenched fists on a smoky stage.

Amalgam Melee by Marika Peura at the ICA

Painting of a pensive woman in white robes, sitting on a vibrant red and orange patterned rug, with an abstract, fragmented gray and yellow city in the background.

The Lost Paintings: A Prelude to Return at Bristol Museum & Art Gallery in Bristol

Dozens of small, translucent, pale aquatic organisms with tentacles floating on a black background.

The Coming of Age at the Wellcome Collection

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