INSIDE VIEW A NEW DIRECTION Two years ago, the island of Vallisaari, part of the Helsinki archipelago, hosted the first edition of the Helsinki Biennial. A long-gestating event, the inaugural showcase proved to be a massive success, not just for the Finnish art scene but for the wider European art world that was reinterpreting its role in the post-Covid environment. Now the second edition of the Helsinki Biennial is integrating even more global perspectives, as it aims to become the leading event to focus on the intersection of art and the issues in the natural world. This edition’s curator of the biennial, Joasia Krysa, who was born in Poland and lives in the UK, has brought together around 30 artists from across the globe under the ambiguous heading “New Directions May Emerge”. The uncertainty here is intentional: artworks have been chosen that speak to complex and intractable themes, from environmental damage to political conflict and rapid technological change. “How might contamination be a force for positive change?” comments Krysa, offering an example of how the works of art that she has chosen, or commissioned, might speak to the wider world. And her ambition is not limited to the works themselves: “How can we use biennials for the wider regeneration of things?” It’s a provocative approach and one that Krysa and her team are hoping will lure visitors from across the globe. Helsinki itself is hoping to be carbon-neutral by 2030, no mean feat for the world’s northernmost metropolitan area. Hats off to the biennial for aiming – and potentially helping – to go even further. Until 17 September, helsinkibiennial.fi FACING PAGE The idyllic shores of Vallisaari Island MATTI PYYKKO 78 NetJets
