Major renovation: Helsinki Art Museum reopens with blockbuster Ai Weiwei show
The Helsinki Art Museum has reopened after a major renovation with a blockbuster show from Chinese artist Ai Weiwei
The Helsinki Art Museum, housed in the 1930s Tennispalatsi, or Tennis Palace, has reopened after a major renovation with a blockbuster show from Chinese artist Ai Weiwei. The 14-month renovation by local architects Arkkitehdit NRT, including a move into the building’s 12-metre high dome, has doubled exhibition and public space to 3,000 sq m. And it is these dome galleries that are playing host to ‘Ai Weiwei @ Helsinki’, a show which stretches through the artist’s early works from the 1980s to two new large scale pieces: White House, a traditional timber Qing Dynasty house, shipped wholesale to Helsinki; and Garbage Container, a large elegant wardrobe of sorts which is really an elegy for five homeless boys from Guizhou Province who died of carbon monoxide poisoning after lighting a fire in a bin to stay warm. Many of the works are in wood, a nod perhaps to Finland’s tradition of fine woodworking.
It’s been a good summer for Ai Weiwei with rave reviews and long queues for his show at the Royal Academy show in London. The Helsinki show is another triumph for the newly mobile artist.
HAM, as it is known, has a permanent collection of over 9,000 works of Finnish art, almost half of them dotted around local schools, libraries, hospitals and parks. The remodeled museum also includes a new space dedicated to emerging Finish artists. HAM’s renovation is part of a wider cultural push in central Helskinki. A new timber-framed Central Library, designed by ALA Architects, is set to open in 2018; as is an entirely underground second branch of the Amos Andersen Art Museum which will be dedicated to experimental and technology-based works.
More controversial is the proposed Helsinki outpost for the Guggenheim. Finalised designs for Europe’s third Guggenmheim, by Paris-based Moreau Kusunoki, were revealed this summer. The competition-winning design, a series of charred timber pavilions, has been well-received but there have been reservations about the cost of the new museum, to be covered by the Finnish Government if the plans are approved. The Helsinki City Board will decide whether to give the development the go-ahead later this year.
INFORMATION
Ai Weiwei @ Helsinki will run until 2 February, 2016; www.hamhelsinki.fi
ADDRESS
Eteläinen Rautatiekatu 8
00100 Helsinki
Wallpaper* Newsletter
Receive our daily digest of inspiration, escapism and design stories from around the world direct to your inbox.
-
Apple’s new Mac mini is a pocket-sized powerhouse thanks to the M4 processor
With the new Mac mini, Apple has squeezed its M4 and M4 Pro processors into the smallest conceivable footprint, physically and environmentally. Apple insiders tell us how
By Jonathan Bell Published
-
One to Watch: EJM Studio’s stool is inspired by the humble church pew
EJM Studio’s ‘Pew’ stool reimagines the traditional British church seating with a modern, eco-conscious twist
By Smilian Cibic Published
-
Hong Kong brutalism explored: tour the island with this new architectural map
Hong Kong brutalism is brought into sharp focus through the launch of Brutalist Hong Kong Map, the latest of its kind in publisher Blue Crow Media’s 20th-century architecture series
By Yoko Choy Published
-
In Helsinki, Pauline Curnier Jardin has created the grotesque amusement park of her dreams
French artist Pauline Curnier Jardin celebrates otherness at Kiasma, Helsinki’s Museum of Contemporary Art
By Alison Hugill Published
-
Jean-Michel Othoniel embraces the endless light in Finland
Artist Jean-Michel Othoniel celebrates light in a major solo exhibition at the Sara Hildén Art Museum in Finland
By Amy Serafin Published
-
Harlem-born artist Tschabalala Self’s colourful ode to the landscape of her childhood
Tschabalala Self’s new show at Finland's Espoo Museum of Modern Art evokes memories of her upbringing, in vibrant multi-dimensional vignettes
By Millen Brown-Ewens Published
-
Ai vs AI: Ai Weiwei asks the big questions nightly in central London
Ai Weiwei and Circa consider the role of the question in Piccadilly Circus, London
By Hannah Silver Published
-
Frieze London 2023: what to see and do
Everything you want to see at Frieze London 2023 and around the city in our frequently updated guide
By Hannah Silver Last updated
-
The rich, creative life of Moomins creator Tove Jansson
Finnish artist and Moomins creator Tove Jansson was free, independent and nonconformist, as a new Paris exhibition delving into her life and work reveals
By Hannah Silver Published
-
Tom of Finland Art and Culture Festival continues its world tour
The festival popped up in London last week ahead of its LA event later in the year
By Sebastian Jordahn Published
-
Helsinki Biennial 2023 explores new horizons
Helsinki Biennial 2023, leading visitors on a trail across the city and Vallisaari island, considers new ways forward, for humans and the environment
By Louise Long Published