Vaasa Museums in 2025: Local, Nordic, and Naive art

The 2025 exhibition season will open with a solo exhibition by Ulrika Ferm at the Kuntsi Museum of Modern Art. The exhibition highlights the artist’s recent works, where various weather phenomena play a central role. In her latest drawings, Ferm has depicted the view from her studio, focusing on cloud formations, while in her earlier video works, she has explored themes such as Irish fog and the Armenian metaphor of weather.

Ferm has been actively involved in the contemporary art scene in Vaasa since the early 2000s and is one of the founders of the contemporary art association Platform. In addition to her work in Finnish contemporary art, she has also exhibited internationally and served as a professor at the Academy of Fine Arts, University of the Arts, from 2013 to 2020. The exhibition has been produced in collaboration with the Vaasa Museums and the Pro Artibus Foundation.

At the same time, the Kuntsi Museum of Modern Art is hosting the group exhibition Elementit (‘Elements’). It is also linked to Ulrika Ferm, who, together with Professor of Art History and Theory Riikka Stewen, leads the course ‘Elements and Energy’ at the Academy of Fine Arts in Helsinki during 2024–2025. The exhibition features works by alumni of the Academy of Fine Arts, University of the Arts, including Shoji Kato, Astri Laitinen, and Kati Roover, as well as works by current art students.

The exhibition has been produced in collaboration with the Academy of Fine Arts of the University of the Arts and the Pro Artibus Foundation. Pro Artibus Foundation has a regional focus on Ostrobothnia during 2024–2025. Ferm is currently working in a three-year residency at the Pro Artibus Foundation in Vaasa.

Naive art for the summer

The Ostrobothnian Museum highlights the work of the Vaasa-born artist Inkeri Julkunen (1935–2017). Naivism as an art movement has never before been featured at the Vaasa museums. Julkunen is one of Finland’s earliest naive painters, beginning her career as a self-taught artist in the 1970s. The exhibition features her works from the 1970s to the 1990s, including oil and acrylic paintings, as well as some three-dimensional pieces.

Julkunen often painted her surroundings, capturing familiar scenes from Vaasa and landscapes from Karperö. Julkunen’s warmly atmospheric paintings depict people going about their daily tasks, happily playing, or relaxing on a warm summer day. Animals also play a prominent role in Julkunen’s works. Her works reflect artistic freedom and, typical of naivism, often include humour. The exhibition is produced by the Vaasa Museums and curated by Museum Curator Janna Sirén.

A comprehensive exhibition by a living legend of Finnish art

In the autumn exhibition season, the Kuntsi Museum of Modern Art will present the Extended Play, a solo exhibition by Jan-Olof Mallander, a living legend of the Finnish art world. The extensive exhibition highlights the long career of the artist, art critic, gallerist, and art collector, who has played a central role in the evolution of Finnish avant-garde and conceptual art since the 1960s.

The title piece of the exhibition, the audio work Extended Play (1968) from the Swanljung collection, is a classic of conceptual art that reflects the political climate of the time. The exhibition also highlights Mallander’s role as an art critic and his significance in the art world, particularly as the founding member of the 1970s artist group Elonkorjaajat.

In addition to Mallander’s own artistic works, the exhibition features a selection from his art collection, which includes both international and Finnish artists and comprises nearly 300 pieces. The collection was born out of Mallander’s interest in oriental religions and philosophy, and the pursuit of personal spiritual growth. The exhibition is produced by the Vaasa Museums and curated by Exhibition Manager Maaria Salo in collaboration with the artist.

Contemporary illustrators at the Tikanoja Art Museum

The group exhibition Minä en pelkää (‘I am not afraid’) takes viewers into the diverse realms of Finnish contemporary illustration. The exhibition explores the journey of growing up in today’s world, particularly from the perspectives of children and young people. The exhibition, occupying two floors of the museum, brings together many well-known and renowned illustrators of children’s books, including Satu Kettunen and Jenny Lucander. The exhibition also features comic artists Riina Tanskanen and Juliana Hyrri, as well as illustrator Saara Obele and visual artist Janna Lindfors. The works blend traditional forms of illustration, such as drawing and painting, with animation and spatial installations, creating multi-sensory experiences. The exhibition invites visitors of all ages to explore the worlds of children and young people, where popular culture and contemporary phenomena intersect and intertwine. The exhibition is produced by the Vaasa Museums  and curated by Museum Curator Noora Lehtovuori.

At the same time, the Tikanoja Art Museum is opening the collection exhibition Serene Moments and Vibrant Colours offering a glimpse into Frithjof Tikanoja’s (1877–1964) extensive collection. The Vaasa-based businessman and cultural figure Tikanoja collected works from many renowned artists, and his collection of over a thousand pieces includes significant works by French and Finnish artists, among others. Tikanoja’s personal favourite was Jean-François Millet’s atmospheric work Bergers autour du feu (‘Shepherds at a campfire’, 1849). Henri Matisse’s Sculpture et vase de lierre (‘Sculpture and ivy vase’, 1916–1917) reflects the collection’s diversity, Victor Westerholm and Maria Wiik’s intimate interior scenes highlight the beauty of everyday life, while William Lönnberg’s Silittäjä (‘The Ironer’) (1920) exudes warmth.

Contemporary Nordic landscapes

The exhibition Lay of(f) the Land – Nordic Narratives will be on display at the Ostrobothnian Museum. The artist group Art Alliance of Arctic South consists of artists who work in Finland, Sweden, and Norway: Dragos Alexandrescu (RO/FI), Linnéa Therese Dimitriou (SE), Heidi-Anett Haugen (NO), Hanna Kanto (FI), Lotta Lampa (SE), Patricia Rodas (FI), Anastasia Savinova (RU/SE) and Madelaine Sillfors (SE).

The artists are united by their common interest in the ever-changing locations and conditions of the contemporary northern landscape. Synergies stem from their deep-rooted connection to nature and their location-based perspective on environmental and cultural debates. The vast northern landscapes concretise themes such as colonisation – both literally and figuratively – ecological destruction, and its eternal process of sorrow and renewal.

The artists offer a unique and personal perspective on global socio-economic challenges and the current climate crisis, as they approach the issues from the northern periphery, far from traditional art centres. The group’s artists have been collaborating since 2019. The exhibition showcases their works in various forms, including paintings, sculptures, sculptural objects, photography, video art, collages, and installations.

A touring exhibition of the works by three sisters from Vaasa

Lundgren Sisters’ Ostrobothnia is a small-scale touring exhibition highlighting the works of three sisters from Vaasa. Ebba Lundgren (1844–1926), Ellen Lundgren (1860–1953) and Eva Lundgren (1863–1947) have remained relatively unknown, despite the extensive body of work they produced. It mainly depicts coastal and rural landscapes from Ostrobothnia. The works of the Lundgren sisters were last exhibited in a major art exhibition at the Ostrobothnian Museum in the 1990s. The touring exhibition features 13 works, all reproductions of the original pieces. The exhibition will be presented in six municipalities in Ostrobothnia throughout 2025. The exhibition is produced by Vaasa Museums, the regional museum in charge of the Ostrobothnia region, and curated by Museum Curator Silvia Rinne.

New temporary exhibitions in 2025

26 April  – 17 August 2025, Ulrika Ferm, solo exhibition, the Kuntsi Museum of Modern Art

26 April  – 17 August 2025, Working title: Elements group exhibition, the Kuntsi Museum of Modern Art.

17 May – 19 October 2025, Inkeri Julkunen and other naivists, the Ostrobothnian Museum

6 September – 7 December 2025, Jan Olof Mallander: Extended Play, the Kuntsi Museum of Modern Art

27 September 2025 – 28 February 2026, I am not afraid – Finnish contemporary illustrators, the Tikanoja Art Museum

27 September 2025 – Serene Moments and Vibrant Colours, collection exhibition, the Tikanoja Art Museum

22 November 2025 – 12 April 2026, Lay of(f) the Land – Nordic Narratives, the Ostrobothnian Museum

The exhibition Lundgren Sisters’ Ostrobothnia will tour six Ostrobothnian municipalities.

The exhibition programme is subject to changes.