Programme

Our spotlight on the projects, people, and events shaping culture through creativity, dialogue and innovation. Explore their stories, works, and inspirations.

boy in a desert

Artist Talk & Screening: Nastja Säde Rönkkö with curator Gemma Rolls-Bentley at LADA

Live Art Development Agency (LADA) The Garrett Centre, 117A Mansford Street, 117 Mansford St, London E2 6LX

interior, shade, green

Workshop and talk: Architecture in the More-Than-Human World

London Design Museum, 224-238 Kensington High St, London W8 6AG

woman on a red background

Teo Ala-Ruona, Marika Peura, and Miša Skalskis at the ICA

Miša Skalskis

Miša Skalskis is a multidisciplinary artist based in Helsinki, working across music, video, sculpture, and performance. Their practice explores how identity is shaped by outside forces—historical narratives, aesthetic movements, subcultures, and the ever-evolving landscape of mass media.

dancing people

Opus Company and Hands Some Feet bring Colorsphere and Babysphere to the UK

two women in front of a pavilion made of bricks

Suomi x Koivisto architects at 'More Than Human' exhibition at London Design Museum

People carrying a tree in front of the Baltic Centre for Contemporary Arts

Henna Asikainen: To Own Both Nothing and the Whole World

a woman is standing in front of a painting on a wall .

Henna Asikainen

Henna is a multi-disciplinary artist of Finnish heritage with a participatory, and socially engaged practice. Her work explores the intimate and entangled relationships between humans and the natural world, intersecting with themes of migratory movement, climate change, heritage, and belonging.

a woman in a brown jacket is standing in front of a wooden sculpture .

Nastja Säde Rönkkö

Nastja Säde Rönkkö is an artist working with video, performance, installation and text. Rönkkö has exhibited and performed internationally in places such as Somerset House, London, Sydney Opera House, Sydney, and Kiasma Museum of Contemporary Art, Helsinki.

Nastja Säde Rönkkö: Survival Guide for a Post-Apocalyptic Child

A woman laying down looking at the camera

Carmen Baltzar

Carmen Baltzar is a Finnish-Romani writer, artist and filmmaker living between Helsinki and Lisbon. Her work explores intersections of love and power, the experience of a woman’s body, embodied liberation, alternate feminine realities and Roma life and death.

Carmen Baltzar selected for the 2025 Finnish Institute in the UK & Ireland x ACME residency

Eija-Liisa Ahtila: The Power of Trees exhibition at Kew Gardens

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Shirley Sherwood Gallery of Botanical Art at Kew Gardens

two men are standing next to each other in front of a disco ball .

Jacksons Lane is bringing three joyful circus performances to London from Agit Cirk, Sakari Männistö and The Nordic Council.

Anssi Kasitonni: Gentle Means and Easy Tasks exhibition at Beaconsfield Gallery

Anssi Kasitonni

Anssi Kasitonni is an artist and inventor, whose works draw from the fringes of popular culture, of a world of skateboarders and moped boys partly gone by. Anssi was awarded the prestigious Ars Fennica art prize in 2011, and he was the recipient of the Below Zero art award in London in 2025.

a close up of a jacket with a colorful embroidery on it .

lipsync serenades for softer occasions performance at 198 Contemporary Arts and Learning

a close up of a yellow parachute hanging from the ceiling .

‘Remedies – Lullaby Nest’ exhibition public events

a woman is standing in front of a desk holding a tablet .

Reetta Niemensivu at the Lakes International Comic Art Festival

a group of people are sitting in a circle on the floor in a dark room .

Sasha Huber and Petri Saarikko: ‘Remedies – Lullaby Nest’ exhibition at The Showroom

a car is parked on the side of the road in front of a house surrounded by palm trees .

TOM House: At Home with Tom of Finland exhibition at Queer Britain

a man is sitting on a stool next to a drum in a room .

Percussionist Ossi Raippalinna has been selected for Making Tracks 2024 residency and tour

Nastja Säde Rönkkö: salt in our blood, in our sweat, in our tears exhibition in Mänttä

person looking into the camera

Marika Peura

Marika Peura is a choreographer, dancer and performer based in Helsinki, Finland. She works multidisciplinary in the fields of dance and performance.

there is a statue of a man holding a tire in a museum .

Anssi Kasitonni receives the Below Zero Finnish Art Award 2025

christmas comes to moominvalley is a christmas movie based on the moomin characters .

Christmas Comes to Moominvalley performance at Jacksons Lane

a man is cleaning a brick courtyard between two tall buildings .

Vapaa Collective performing Architectural Acts of Care at LFA

a woman is sitting on a table in a room with tables and stools .

Nayab Noor Ikram selected for 2024 Finnish Institute in the UK and Ireland X Acme London Residency

a green cloth hangs from a window in front of a house

Compositions for Actions 2024: Dormancy, Reseeding, Resistance

a close up of a quilt next to a greenhouse .

Compositions for Actions Open Call 2024 Projects Announced

a close up of a colorful quilt with embroidery on it .

Compositions for Actions 2024: lipsync serenades for soft occasions

Below Zero Finnish Art Award shortlist for 2025 announced

European Writers’ Festival 2: Transformation

a woman in a traditional costume is standing in the snow

Outi Pieski

Outi Pieski is a Sámi visual artist based in Ohcejohka (Utsjoki) and Numminen, Finland. Pieski has exhibited in Sápmi and internationally, most recently at Tate St.Ives, 2024, Helsinki Biennial, 2021 and the 13th Gwangju Biennale, 2021.

We Are Eagles: Outi Pieski And Maree Clarke at Tate Modern

Lotta and Stina: ’20 Years Later Still Here!’ circus performance at Jacksons Lane

On Our Doorsteps connects communities with nature through art in Hull, Lancaster and Norwich in 2024

In Short, Europe: Nun or Never! by Heta Jäälinoja

Global environmental challenges: Lessons from Ukraine discussion event

Below Zero Finnish Art Award 2025

Assemblage III: Community and Care

Two men in a colourful ballpit

Batist Van Baekel

Batist Van Baekel is a Belgian circus artist specialized in juggling and object manipulation.

Jam Shenanigans – playful contemporary circus for family audiences at Jacksons Lane!

Slow Motion Sauna at King’s Cross

Institutes’ joint project ‘pARTir – Creating a Cultural Roadmap Towards Responsible International Mobility’ starts in the spring 2024

flat 70 Culture Club presents: ‘Perceive sea, dunes, mountains in move’ tour and screening of After We’re Gone by Ima Iduozee

a woman with short red hair is smiling for the camera .

Minna Henriksson

Minna Henriksson is a Helsinki based visual artist working with a disparate range of tools including text, drawing, painting and linocut. Henriksson’s work relates to leftist, anti-racist and feminist struggles.

‘Self-Determination: A Global Perspective’ exhibition at IMMA features Minna Henriksson’s work

Hanna Tuulikki’s work ‘Under Forest Cover’ at City Art Centre in Edinburgh

a woman in a black dress is projected on a brick wall

Hanna Tuulikki

Hanna Tuulikki is a British-Finnish artist, composer and performer based in Scotland. Her multi-disciplinary projects investigate the ways in which the body communicates beyond and before words, to tell stories through imitation, vocalisation and gesture.

Hanna Västinsalo’s debut feature Palimpsest at Raindance Film Festival

Visual artist Liisa-Irmelen Liwata: What if one’s cultural identity was in motion, rather than bound by strict categories?

Perceive sea, dunes, mountains in move exhibition at 198 Contemporary Arts and Learning

Revisit Together Again festival stream and artworks online

Screening of Eatnameamet – Our Silent Struggle by Suvi West

Registration for Together Again festival in Helsinki is now open!

One Drop by Sonya Lindfors at Dance Umbrella festival

a black and white photo of a woman sitting in front of a white brick wall

Sonya Lindfors

Sonya Lindfors is a Cameroonian - Finnish choreographer and artistic director that also works with facilitating, community organizing and education. Her performance works have been shown and supported by Beursschouwburg, Kampnagel, Spring Utrecht, Black Box Theater Oslo, among others.

Jaana Laakkonen in residency at Temple Bar Gallery + Studios in Dublin

Sepideh Rahaa’s work at Liverpool Biennial

Heikki Hiilamo presenting on sustainability and social security reforms

a woman with curly hair is wearing a black shirt and a gold necklace .

Sepideh Rahaa

Sepideh Rahaa is an Iranian multidisciplinary artist, researcher and educator based in Helsinki. Through her practice, she actively investigates and questions prevailing power structures, social norms and conventions while focusing on womanhood, storytelling and everyday resistances.

European Writers’ Festival: The Stories We Tell

The Snake House: Finland’s most radical co-housing schemes

Galleria Heino at Photo London, an interview with Aapo Huhta and Axel Antas

TOM House The VR Experience on view at Kiasma, Helsinki

TOM House THE VR Experience by Donkey Hotel: “It is a space where one can almost live and breathe Tom’s art”

5th edition of In Short, Europe Short Film Festival: Awakening

Man sat down waving

Mind the Gap Residency 2023: Niko Hallikainen

Woman sat on a hospital bed

Nastja Säde Rönkkö: salt in our blood, in our sweat, in our tears exhibition at Beaconsfield London

Agit Cirk’s Lost

a man with a beard and a woman with curly hair are looking at each other .

Maija Tammi

Maija Tammi is a Finnish artist and Doctor of Arts, who is known for her radical storytelling through the medium of video, photography and installations. Tammi’s work has been exhibited internationally, among others in Paris, Berlin, Rome, London, New York, and Tokyo, and she has five published books.

Picture of a man wearing glasses and smiling

Ali Akbar Mehta

Ali Akbar Mehta is a Transmedia artist, curator, researcher, and writer, creating immersive and interactive archives on the crossovers of culture, technology and knowledge.

A woman wearing glasses in front of an art installation

Eija-Liisa Ahtila

Eija-Liisa Ahtila is a Finnish contemporary visual artist and filmmaker based in Helsinki, Finland. Ahtila is well known for her multi-panel cinematic installations. In which she experiments with narrative storytelling.

two women are dancing on a stage with smoke coming out of the ceiling .

Hope in the Dark: A lab and a Discussion with Sonya Lindfors

Outi Pieski’s solo exhibition at Tate St Ives

People carrying a tree in front of the Baltic Centre for Contemporary Arts

To Own Both Nothing and the Whole World: Midsummer Night Event

three women are sitting on stools in a dark room .

Vapaa Collective at the London Festival of Architecture

a woman is cleaning a spiral staircase with a cloth .

LFA2024 Symposium: On Architectural Acts of Care

two women outside

Suomi/Koivisto architects

a man sits on a bench in front of three posters one of which says moving line

Adrian Berry

Adrian is Artistic Director of the UK’s leading circus and arts centre, Jacksons Lane. As a venue director and programmer, Adrian has worked with the National Theatre, Stratford Circus, the Albany and Trinity amongst many others.

Woman jumping in the air with yellow background

Screening of ‘Tove’ at Jacksons Lane

a woman with short hair is wearing a black turtleneck and looking at the camera .

Bengi Ünsal

Bengi Ünsal is currently the Director of the Institute of Contemporary Arts, London, UK. Prior to this Ünsal was the Head of Contemporary Music and Director of Meltdown Festival at Southbank Centre.

a woman sits on a couch next to a dog

Maija Nurmio

Maija Nurmio is a Helsinki-based choreographer and dancer, who has been freelancing for two decades. She has a BA from Laban in London and an MA in choreography from the Theatre Academy in Helsinki.

a woman wearing a black jacket with the letter s on it

Teo Ala-Ruona

Teo Ala-Ruona is an interdisciplinary artist based in Helsinki, working across performance art, contemporary theatre, and choreography. Ala-Ruona's work has recently been shown at venues such as Performa Biennial in New York, the Vilnius Biennial of Performance Art in Vilnius, and the Institute of Contemporary Arts in London.

a group of people are dancing together in a room .

Kaisa Nieminen and Marika Peura’s down below things shudder at ICA

a black and white photo of a woman in a dark room with candles .

Linda Kokkonen presents her new collection OENANTHE during London Fashion Week

a man in a blue suit is standing in front of a white brick wall .

Henri Kangas

Henri Kangas is a circus artist from Finland. Kangas has a Bachelor of Circus Arts from Codarts University for Arts in Rotterdam, The Netherlands. Kangas has a passion for stage, where he uses his unique approach towards circus to create a wide variety of acts and shows suitable for all forms of audiences.

Kaisa Nieminen

Kaisa Nieminen is a dancer-choreographer based in Helsinki, Finland.Her dance background is in street dance; mainly in hip hop and punking/whacking. This background is reflected in her artistic work and her relationship with the movement.

Programme | The Finnish Institute in the UK and Ireland