Dialogues

Kiasma's first collection exhibition, Dialogues, relies on the expressive power of a single work of art. 'When everything in the modern world - also a part of the visual arts - is flowing and momentary, and nothing really makes you stop, we wanted to remind people that contemporary art can also function in a different way,' says Director Tuula Arkio.

'I think that collections introducing a huge number of different artists in a historical order are all the more problematic today - unless one wishes to present a purely art historical aspect. There has been a lot of discussion on the art historical approach in museums, the need to group, phase, name, and label things. In Dialogues we want to give art the chance to make it on its own.'

Dialogues consists of pieces belonging to the international collection that the Museum of Contemporary Art has acquired during the last few years, many of them having never been exhibited in Finland. The works are the artists' interpretations and expressions of opinion in the 1990s and about the 1990s, and they are still in a constant dialogue with art of today. The viewers are also encouraged to express their opinions about a detail or thought that touches them in these works.

When constructing the exhibition, room was left for architect Steven Holl 's architectural expression in the exhibition spaces by leaving the actual structures uncovered. The works have been grouped in the various spaces of Kiasma so that they are linked with each other by thought, theme, or technique, creating variety and surprises for the viewers moving from one space to another. The whole of Dialogues influences all the senses: the exhibition includes works based on smell, materials, sound, and moving image. Printti rooms on the first floor shows graphics and photography more extensively. In addition to aesthetics and sensations, the works contain more expansive abstractness and deep personal interpretations of the world and the time in which we live.

'The collection exhibitions on the first and second floors of Kiasma are changed once a year. In addition, to deepen the various themes and viewpoints, special exhibitions, "Wedges", are driven into the annual exhibition. "The work of the Month" brings one of the works to the foreground, and Room X is reserved for new acquisitions,' says Helka Ketonen, Chief Curator in charge of the collections.

Jaana Hirvonen