The exhibition of the Ars Fennica 2025 nominees opens at HAM

Ars Fennica is a contemporary art prize awarded every two years and one of the largest in the Nordic countries. The 50,000 euro prize is open to Finnish, Nordic, and Baltic artists. The prize is awarded  by the Henna and Pertti Niemistö Art Foundation  – ARS FENNICA sr., and it is presented in recognition of outstanding artistic achievement and distinctive creative vision.

The nominees for the 2025 Ars Fennica Award and the international art expert were selected by the foundation's award panel, which includes the chairperson, Dr. Leena Niemistö, along with members visual artist Eija-Liisa Ahtila, Dean Leevi Haapala (University of the Arts Helsinki's Academy of Fine Arts), and Museum Director Arja Miller (HAM Helsinki Art Museum).

The Henna and Pertti Niemistö Art Foundation – ARS FENNICA sr was established in 1990 to promote the visual arts by opening up new channels for Finnish visual art internationally, by providing artists with inspiration in their creative work, and by encouraging interest in and respect for the visual arts among the general public.

The Ars Fennica exhibition is held for the first time at HAM Helsinki Art Museum. Each nominee contributes a small selection or ensemble of works to the accompanying exhibition. The prize winner will be announced in February 2026. The winner is selected by international art expert Mami Kataoka, Director of the Mori Art Museum. Visitors are also invited to vote for their favourite. Ballots are available at the ticket desk upon arrival, and the Visitors’ Choice title will be presented alongside the main prize in February 2026.

The Ars Fennica 2025 exhibition is curated by HAM's curator Heli Harni. HAM Helsinki Art Museum and The Henna and Pertti Niemistö Art Foundation – ARS FENNICA sr are collaborating to organize the exhibition. The exhibition is produced with support from the Finnish Heritage Agency.

Ars Fennica 2025 Art Expert Mami Kataoka

Mami Kataoka is the Director of the Mori Art Museum in Tokyo and the Director of the National Art Research Center NCAR in Japan. Kataoka’s previous roles include Chief Curator at the Tokyo Opera City Art Gallery (1997–2002), International Curator at the Hayward Gallery in London (2007–2009), Co-Artistic Director of the 9th Gwangju Biennale (2012), Artistic Director of the 21st Biennale of Sydney (2018), and Artistic Director of the Aichi Triennale 2022 (2022). She served on the board of CIMAM from 2014 to 2022, chairing the organisation from 2020 to 2022. In 2024, she served on the Finding Committee for Documenta 16. Kataoka is also one of the two chief curators of the 2027 Helsinki Biennial, together with HAM's Museum Director Arja Miller. 

2025 Ars Fennica Award nominees

Ragna Bley

Ragna Bley (b. 1986, Norway/Sweden) often starts from something personal – whether a place, a feeling, or a physical experience. Her work engages with the invisible and unpredictable forces of nature, repeatedly probing the tension between chance and intentionality. Bley typically paints on large-scale canvases laid flat on the floor. She pours paint directly onto the surface, letting it spread freely into landscape-like formations, where thin washes alternate with thicker, more sculptural textures. At times she even uses dyed snow, allowing it to melt slowly and merge unpredictably into the work. The subject matter emerges gradually, inhabiting a space between representation and abstraction.

Bley earned her bachelor’s degree from the Oslo Academy of Fine Arts in 2011 and her master’s from London’s Royal College of Art in 2015. Born in Sweden, she now lives and works in Oslo.

Roland Persson

Roland Persson (b. 1963, Sweden) creates sculptures and installations in which nature appears at once destructive and regenerative – damaged yet teeming with new life. This sense of duality runs through his entire practice. The carefully depicted animal and plant motifs often reflect traces of memories of the relationship between humans and nature. Working with moulds taken from real objects, Persson casts his forms in silicone. The coloured, flexible material lends his sculptures a recognisable presence while allowing them to remain open to shifting interpretations. His surreal scenes may be unforgiving and scarred, yet they also radiate warmth and compassion.   
  
Persson graduated from the Umeå Academy of Fine Arts in 1993 and continued his studies at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts in Stockholm. Based in Stockholm, he is also well known in Sweden for his public artworks.

Jani Ruscica

Jani Ruscica’s (b. 1978, Finland/Italy) murals and sculptural video installations materialise in relation to their surrounding space. Central to the artist’s practice is an inquiry into the layered, fluid, and unstable nature of meaning. In Ruscica’s works, things are constantly in flux – stretching, bending and transcending established boundaries. Their works playfully challenge our attempts to define and categorise, giving way instead to ambiguity, experientiality and unfixity. 
  
Ruscica works with moving and printed images, sculpture and performance. They hold a bachelor’s degree from Chelsea College of Art & Design in London (2002) and a Master’s degree in Fine Arts from the Academy of Fine Arts in Helsinki (2007). Born in Finland and raised in Italy, the artist lives and works in Helsinki.

Hanna Vihriälä

Hanna Vihriälä (b. 1974, Finland) turns her attention to everyday moments and objects that may seem insignificant. Drawing on her own feelings and experiences, her works are highly personal yet resonate widely. Vihriälä reflects on the challenges of living a life aligned with one’s values amid conflicting desires, temptations, and the drive to experience or possess as much as possible. Her large-scale works emphasise the tactile qualities of materials, exploring contrasts between durable and fragile, hard and soft. She also experiments with transparency, reflections, and shadows to enrich the visual experience of her art. 

Based in Tampere, Vihriälä graduated from the Estonian Academy of Arts in 2000 and completed her sculpture studies at the Academy of Fine Arts in Helsinki in 2003. She has created numerous public artworks for sites across Finland.

Contact Information

Henna and Pertti Niemistö Art Foundation ARS FENNICA sr:
Executive Director Camilla Granbacka, camilla.granbacka@arsfennica.fi, +358 44 308 7931

HAM Communications:
Maarit Kivistö, maarit.kivisto@hamhelsinki.fi, +358 40 485 5687