Kiasma’s new exhibition shines light on the fascinating spectrum of contemporary art materials

The range of materials used in contemporary art has grown to be almost infinite, making the choice of material and ways of working with it central to the content of artworks. This is the starting point for the Rock, Paper, Scissors exhibition, which delves into many of the fundamental questions in contemporary art: Why does contemporary art look the way it does? What do the choices of material tell us? What kind of material are sounds – or thoughts – for an artist? The exhibition also raises questions of authorship and contemplates modes of perception.  

The material choices made in contemporary art open up viewpoints on a variety of social phenomena. New technologies, such as 3D printing and advances in photographic technology, are changing our relationship with the world and with different materials. Environmental awareness has also changed the way many artists approach their materials – the material does not have to be dominated, art can be made on the material’s own terms. 

The exhibition, put together from the Finnish National Gallery’s collections, features works by 52 artists. It includes pieces by Finnish contemporary-art pioneers, such as Maria Duncker, Ulla Jokisalo and Nina Roos, as well as by classic figures in international contemporary art, such as Donald Judd and Claes Oldenburg. There are also works acquired in recent years by interesting artists of the younger generation, such as Tarik Kiswanson and Man Yau. 

The museum’s job is to preserve artworks for future generations. What are we to do if the material in an artwork is fragile or intended only for one-time use? The exhibition has a room where visitors can hear conservators’ views on the artworks and find out more about the materials used in many of the works on display by touching them. 

The Rock, Paper, Scissors exhibition is curated by Kiasma’s collections curators Saara Hacklin, Saara Karhunen and Satu Oksanen. They have also edited a book to accompany the exhibition. Besides Hacklin and Karhunen, writers include Museum Director Kiira Miesmaa, Conservator Suvi Kervinen, and critic and writer Petteri Enroth. Graphic design is by Tytti Halonen and Tino Nyman. 

Rock, Paper, Scissors – Kiasma’s collection exhibition will be on display 14.2.2025–18.1.2026. 

Exhibition Artists 

Martti Aiha, Dylan Ray Arnold & Océane Bruel, Inka Bell, Sissel M Bergh, Joseph Beuys, Sara Bjarland, Marcel Broodthaers, Baran Caginli, Nina Canell, Jacob Dahlgren, A K Dolven, Maria Duncker, Wade Guyton, Teuri Haarla, Eeva-Mari Haikala, Terhi Heino, Helena Hietanen, Reijo Hukkanen, Ann Veronica Janssens, Ulla Jokisalo, Ona Juciūtė, Donald Judd, Lasse Juuti, Marja Kanervo, Eeva Karhu, Olli Keränen, Kihwa-Endale, Tarik Kiswanson, Mikko Kuorinki, The Monday Collective, J O Mallander, Esse McChesney, Golrokh Nafisi, Maurizio Nannucci, Robertas Narkus, Claes Oldenburg, Sini Pelkki, Ari Pelkonen, Pearla Pigao, Michelangelo Pistoletto, James Prevett, Tiina Raitanen, Taneli Rautiainen, Nina Roos, Jarkko Räsänen, Krišs Salmanis, Richard Serra & Carlota Fay Schoolman, Mika Taanila, Antoni Tàpies, Nora Tapper, Marianna Uutinen, Man Yau 

Kiasma Theatre – programme 

In the spring, to complement the Rock, Paper, Scissors exhibition, Kiasma Theatre’s programme features Anna Maria Häkkinen’s Afterglow – low lingering slips of light. This dance piece premiered at New York’s Performa Biennale 2023 and will fill the capacious exhibition space on Kiasma’s top floor at sunset. 

Choreographer Juan Pablo Cámara and visual artist Andrey Bogush create a surrealistically queer world in their Homopticum. Hong Kong artist Zheng Bo takes the audience into the forest to seek a connection with nature. 

In the autumn, in the WAUHAUS collective’s The Companion we will encounter a robot dog and ponder the emotions aroused by a non-living being. For Maija Hirvanen’s choreography a fungus-like stage set will be built in Kiasma Theatre, and a choreography of cyclic existence will emerge from its mycelium. Anna Torkkel’s contemporary dance piece Bliss explores key elements of dance performance: light, sound, movement and space. Golden Gate, a joint work by performance artist Ania Nowak and visual-artist duo Pakui Hardware, deals with grief and letting go. 

Kiasma Theatre’s programme is curated by Senior Producer Jonna Strandberg. 

Contemporary art in the Finnish National Gallery’s collections 

The Finnish National Gallery’s collection is state-owned Finnish national property. The collection currently includes nearly 9000 works of contemporary art by almost 1000 artists. Some 60–100 new contemporary artworks are acquired for the collection each year. 

Kiasma is part of the Finnish National Gallery and its responsibilities include expanding the collection’s contemporary-art section, taking care of the works in the collection, and displaying them to the public. Kiasma collects Finnish and international contemporary art that reflects our times as diversely as possible. 

Rock, Paper, Scissors – Kiasma’s Collection Exhibition 
14.2.2025–18.1.2026 

Press images