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At Nykyaika you’ll find two gallery spaces and a public reference library. The exhibitions change monthly and an additional program such as artist talks and workshops are organized regularly.

Admission to exhibitions, to reference library and to events and workshops at Nykyaika is always free.

Anssi Ruuska: Haihtuva metsä

5.8.-4.9. Gallery space of Photographic Centre Nykyaika

A thought – what if the forests were to disappear? This abstract question is based on change seen and experienced in nature. I was surprised by the new endangered species in The Red List of Finnish Species (2019). The sixth wave of extinction is here, and even the willow tit is highly endangered. From this concern came this body of work that deals with forests, clear cutting, and the diminishing of diversity. When walking through the exhibition space, the viewer may sense this feeling of fading away and the impact human actions have on nature.

The exhibition and Ruuska’s work have received support from Arts Promotion Centre Finland and the Raija and Ossi Tuuliainen Foundation.

Leena Kela: Rest of Us

5.8.-4.9. Studio space of Photographic Centre Nykyaika

The Rest of Us video trilogy is comprised of videos I executed in collaboration with Jussi Virkkumaa that portray performances about a time after human beings. The video series has three parts: There Is No Planet B (2020), Rest of Time (2021) and If You Fall, We Will Fall Too (2022).

Just before his death, physicist and cosmologist Stephen Hawking gave us a warning: humanity has no more than a hundred years on Earth. To save man from extinction we must prepare to colonize another planet. Our time is running out and thus we must prepare ourselves to begin our journey to another planet. The series of works puts forth questions on the future of our planet. Since we have no Planet B to move on to, how do we act when our planet is in crisis? How much time do we have left? What will be left of us?

Consultant on movement and coreography: Suvi Nieminen

Performers: Leena Kela, Lauri Kärkkäinen, Suvi Nieminen, Pirkko Piri, Milla Ryytty, Silja Saarinen, Pete Santos and Yngve Sjöblom

Pieces in the exhibition have received support from AVEK, Arts Promotion Centre Finland, Varsinais-Suomi Regional Fund, Regional Dance Centre of Western Finland and Uniarts Helsinki.

Backlight 2023: Julmaa valoa / Cruel Radiance

3.6.-15.10.

What kind of evidentiary power can we associate with images in a world where man-made crises and conflicts have long since exceeded human proportions? How does matter, our material and elementary surroundings, record evidence of violence? What kind of roles do such non-human visual actors have in bearing witness to our pernicious actions?

Festival exhibitions: 

3.6.-2.7. Gallery Koppelo | Veli Granö

3.6.-2.7. Gallery Saskia | Anaïs Tondeur, Ali Akbar Mehta, The HNV Collective

3.6.–31.7. Photographic Centre Nykyaika | Susanne Kriemann

7.6.–30.7. Demolition Art House Pinni47 | Nykyvaloa / New Rays, international student exhibition

17.6.–15.10. Tampere Art Museum | Fiona Amundsen & Kanariya Eishi, Solmaz Daryani, Noelle Mason, Anastasia Mityukova, Susan Schuppli, Toshio Fukada, Eiichi Matsumoto

Backlight´23 Photo Festival Julmaa valoa / Cruel Radiance has been curated by visual artists Harri Pälviranta and Marko Karo. The exhibitions of the Backlight Photo Festival have been produced in collaboration with the Majaoja foundation and Tampere Art Museum. The exhibitions have also received support from Arts Promotion Centre Finland, the City of Tampere, Finnfoto and the Patricia Seppälä foundation.

Upcoming exhibitions

September-October
9.9.-9.10.
Päivi Tuovinen
Jenny Albrecht

October-November
14.10.-13.11.
Elisabeth Caven
Mari Mäntynen

November-December
18.11.-18.12.
Juha Sääski
Juha-Pekka Inkinen

See more events