4. – 6.9.2025 / Sirkka, FI
V SIRKKA ARTE BIENNALE 4. — 6.9.2025
Aitta-Studio, 18 Muoniontie, SirkkaSärestöniemi-museo, KaukonenGalleria Raekallio, PöntsöPop-up Pohjoisseinä Utsuvaara, Levi
Artists: Petri Ala-Maunus, Siiri Haarla, Kaija Hinkula, Hanna Kanto, Eemil Karila, Aaron Aryadharma Matheson, Elina Merenmies, Eeva Peura, Harri Puro, Raisa Raekallio, Sirkku Rosi, Kati Ruohomäki, Alina Sinivaara, Camilla Vuorenmaa
Art Experts: Christian Ehrentraut, Senior Director Galerie EIGEN + ART Leipzig/Berlin.
Saara Hacklin, Chief Curator of Collections at the Museum of Contemporary Art Kiasma.
Sanna Lipponen, Art Critic
Musicians: DJ Hulluella, Juho Kanervo, Pekka Kumpulainen, Tapani RinneDirector / curator: Misha del Val
This autumn, from the 4th to the 7th of September, we celebrate the fifth edition of the Sirkka Arte Biennale, an art event we hold every second year at our place in Sirkka, Kittilä, consisting of a curated art exhibition, a short residency for participating artists, and a sideshow program of live music performances. The theme for the upcoming Sirkka Biennale is ‘The Phenomenon of Painting’, and so for the exhibition we have invited 14 artists whose main practices revolve around the multifaceted mercurial medium of painting. We hope, through the works in the exhibition and the presence of the artists, to enliven a conversation about the pulse, purpose and pitfalls of painting today, to put neck to neck conflicting ideas about what painting might and should be, to kindle some good inspiration to keep us going, and in short, to gain new insights about the old practice. The focus of the art event has from the onset been to create a relaxed, low-key, supported atmosphere harboured by the northern nature for artists to share ideas, stories and artworks.
The works of the Biennale exhibition are spreading over four different locations in Kittilä Municipality: throughout the buildings and yard of our property in Sirkka; Särestöniemi-museo-museo in Kaukonen, where Reidar’s atelier is hosting a conversation between works of contemporary painters and those of our beloved master from Särestö; pop-up space PohjoisseinäUtsuvaara, Levi; and Galleria Raekallio in Pöntsö.
The Biennale runs, in parallel with the art exhibition, an evening program of live performances. This year, we are thrilled to have with us artists Tapani Rinne, Juho Kanervo, @DJ Hulluella, and Rovaniemi-based singer-songwriter Pekka Kumpulainen, who will present his newly musicalised poems by Timo K. Mukka. The Sirkka Biennale is an artistic event designed to bring people together in a supportive environment of creativity, reflection, amusement and rest. The Biennale kicked off in 2017, and since then more than 50 artists from Lapland, Southern Finland as well as international artists have been part of the project. The art event continues to be free, and open to the community.
The event is kindly supported by the Finnish Cultural Foundation, Lapland Fund, and Kittilä Municipality Cultural Services.