‘Nordic Noir’ exhibition to open at the British Museum in October
This exhibition showcasing Nordic works on paper is the culmination of a five-year collecting strategy.
The British Museum is set to display around 150 works from 100 different artists in an exhibition celebrating graphic works on paper from the Nordic region.
Nordic noir: works on paper from Edvard Munch to Mamma Andersson is the culmination of a five-year programme dedicated to building the Museum's collection of post-war Nordic artwork.
Showcasing one of the best collections of Nordic art outside the region, the exhibition aims to provide a welcome and stimulating insight into the distinctive art originating there.
The exhibition highlights individual characteristics and complexities within the various Nordic countries, as well as exploring universal and overarching themes. It also questions the definition of Nordic art and what it means to be a Nordic artist through work by artists who have immigrated to and emigrated from the region.
Key themes throughout the exhibition are nature and the vital urgency to preserve the environment of the fjords, mountains and forests unique to the region. The artworks on display also delve into the worlds of Norse myth, inner struggles with mental health, post-war angst and the threat of the Cold War, feminism and the rights of the Indigenous Sámi people.
The landmark collecting project, supported by a substantial grant from charitable organisation AKO Foundation, resulted in the acquisition by the British Museum of almost 400 works by artists from Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden. It has added to the many Nordic prints purchased by the Museum in the 1990s.
List of Finnish Artists in the exhibition:
Timo Aalto (1941-2003)
Eija-Liisa Ahtila (b. 1959)
Juhana Blomstedt (1937-2010)
Ernst Mether-Borgström (1917-1996)
Karoliina Hellberg (b. 1987)
Lea Ignatius (1913-1990)
Outi Ikkala (1935-2011)
Seppo Kärkkäinen (1935-2022)
Elina Merenmies (b. 1967)
Lars-Gunnar Nordström (1924-2014)
Paul Osipow (b. 1939)
Yuichiro Sato (b. 1979)
Anna Tuori (b. 1976)
Sam Vanni (1909-1992)
"This project was a five-year voyage of discovery. These countries have so much creativity to offer with contemporary artists exploring themes of nature, the environment, identity and heritage. The artists in the show are well-known in their home countries, but this exhibition aims to showcase the incredible array of talent from the Nordic lands to a wider UK and international audience – many of them are on display for the first time."
-Jennifer Ramkalawon, Curator of Modern and Contemporary Nordic Graphic Art
The Finnish Institute in the UK and Ireland, together with the Finnish Embassy and other Nordic embassies, is supporting the exhibition’s mobility and public programming.
Image credit: Elina Merenmies, Scrawls, 2013, ink on handmade paper, 51x36cm
People behind the project
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.