Marko Heinonen
Installaatio / installation, 2001

Photograph by Marko Heinonen



The Helsinki City Art Museum boasts one of Finland’s largest and most important collections of Contemporary Art. The newest additions to the collections are now put on display for the public. On May 7 at the Tennis Palace, the exhibition A party in every room focuses on video art. In September, there will be an exhibition on installations in the City Art Museum’s collections.

A party in every room is about music, festivals, fooling about, flirting, meeting friends, showing off or being anxious or lonely. The 12 works in the exhibition include ten videos, most of which are displayed as installations that have been specially made for the exhibition. Many think video art is a bit tiresome, difficult and formalistic, but A party in every room will prove that it can also be approachable and accessible. In these works video is a means of recording actions or performances, not an end in itself.

A Party in every room has been inspired by the innovative TV stations ATV and MoonTV, their way of making programmes and their attitude to both themselves and their subjects that is so different from mainstream TV. The works in the exhibition share a similar desire to avoid hierarchies, restraints on expression, playing games and taking on roles. The artists have had a ’party’, enjoying themselves, relaxing and dispensing with formalities. Although – or maybe because – the artworks’ quality or technical standard may be poor on a conventional scale, they are very approachable. A party in every room is proof that you can have fresh ideas and cause provocation even in a museum.

The artists are Marko Heinonen, Tanja Koponen, Jouko Korkeasaari, Heta Kuchka, Tuomas Laitinen, John Phillip Mäkinen, Erkka Nissinen, Anneli Nygren and Wicky Suicide, with a special appearance by Jani Hänninen.

An exhibition catalogue in Finnish will be published as an insert in the Taidemuseo Tennispalatsi newsletter, with interviews of all the artists. Each artist has prepared a page on the issues his or her work deals with.

The exhibition’s curator is Jari Björklöv and its architect Tuija Järvenpää.

Further information: Curator Jari Björklöv tel. +358-(0)9-310 87046, +358-(0)50-377 0956 / Educational Curator Arja Miller tel. +358-(0)9-310 87007, +358-(0)50-336 1980 / press material: Press Secretary Karri Buchert tel. +358-(0)9-310 87004, +358-(0)50-304 6707.

Guided tours: Guided tours are given to the public free of charge in Finnish on Wednesdays at 18 and Saturdays and Sundays at 14 o’clock, and in Swedish on the first and third Sunday of each month at 13 o’clock. To book tours at other times and in other languages, please call +358-9-310 87003; there is a separate charge for these tours.