The Kiasma Museum of Up to date Artwork in Helsinki has chosen Sweden-based sculptor Klara Kristalova, Finnish sculptor Benjamin Orlow, and Norwegian artist Tori Wrånes to characterize the Nordic nations on the Venice Biennale 2026. The choice was made in collaboration with Moderna Museet in Stockholm and the Workplace for Up to date Artwork in Oslo.
Designed by Norwegian architect Sverre Fehn and accomplished in 1962, the Nordic pavilion has functioned since then as a collaborative artwork exhibition house for Finland, Sweden, and Norway, with every nation rotating because the principal commissioner. For the 2026 version, Finnish museum Kiasma is on the helm, with the museum’s chief curator, Anna Mustonen, organizing the exhibition. “The exhibition invitations guests to journey by way of a dynamic interaction of creativeness and actuality that bridges Nordic cultural heritage with broader world contexts,” mentioned Mustonen.
The trio of artists, every recognized for his or her experimental approaches to sculpture and set up, will combine Nordic mythologies with world points equivalent to id, cultural survival, and gender equality. Kristalova, born in Prague in 1967 and residing in Norrtälje, Sweden, is acknowledged for her glazed ceramic sculptures that usually function fairy-tale-like imagery. Orlow, born in Turku, Finland, in 1984 and primarily based in London, focuses on human interplay with the surroundings by way of video, set up, and sculpture. Wrånes, who’s Norwegian and primarily based in Oslo, usually incorporates music into her sculpture apply to create immersive environments.
“Along with geographical proximity, the Nordic nations have lengthy shared a typical cultural heritage,” mentioned Kiira Miesmaa, director of Kiasma Museum of Up to date Artwork and commissioner of the Nordic pavilion for 2026. “The shared creative cooperation reinforces our values and the function of artwork in society.”
For the sixtieth Venice Biennale, Swedish artist and Artsy Vanguard 2021 alum Lap-See Lam labored alongside artist Kholod Hawash from Finland and composer Tze Yeung Ho from Norway to stage a large music set up on the Nordic pavilion. In 2022, the Nordic pavilion was reworked into the Sámi pavilion, acknowledging the Indigenous those that reside within the northern areas of Scandinavia and Russia. This exhibition featured a number of Sámi artists, together with Máret Ánne Sara, who was not too long ago tapped for the tenth Turbine Corridor fee on the Tate Fashionable.
The 61st Venice Biennale is scheduled from Might ninth to November 22, 2026. Artists confirmed for nationwide pavilions embrace Zanzibar-born artist Lubaina Himid for the United Kingdom, choreographer Florentina Holzinger for Austria, French Moroccan artist Yto Barrada for France’s pavilion, and 31-year-old artist Maja Malou Lyse for Denmark’s pavilion. Koyo Kouoh, the chief director and chief curator at Cape City’s Zeitz Museum of Up to date Artwork Africa (Zeitz MOCAA), will curate the primary exhibition.
