Kiasma in Venice

Kiasma makes a debut at the Venice Biennale. The exhibition gains particular importance for marking the reacquisition of Aalto Pavilion into Finnish hands.

Kiasma continues its conquest of international art forums this year by participating for the first time in the Venice Biennale. The debut will be Fire & Rescue Museum by the Finnish artist Jussi Kivi, an international co-production between Kiasma and Frame, the Finnish Fund for Art Exchange. The exhibition commissioner is Berndt Arell, Director of Kiasma, and the exhibition will be presented in Finnish pavilion ‘Aalto’ designed by Alvar Aalto.

The Pavilion designed by Alvar Aalto (1898-1976) for the Venice Biennial grounds was built for 1956 biennial. It is one of Aalto’s most unassuming building projects, and also one of the smallest exhibition pavilions in the Giardini Park in Venice. It was initiated by Maire Gullichsen (1907-1990) and realized by the Nykytaide (Contemporary Art) association of Finland.

The exhibition is based on Jussi Kivi’s long-time passion for collecting material about firefighting. Kivi worked in Studio Johan Tobias, a sculpture studio administered by the governing body of the Suomenlinna fortress in Helsinki, where he spent the spring classifying and documenting objects and documents for the exhibition. His assistant is Filippo Zambon, a student of Finnish Academy of Fine Arts. A broader thematic context for the exhibition is presented in issue 10 of Framework The Finnish Art Review published by Frame.