Cable Factory to open a gallery dedicated to graffiti – open call for artists 4–22 March 2026

The new graffiti gallery will be located in the publicly accessible basement lobby of staircase C. The gallery has a floor area of 139 square metres and 105 square metres of wall surface available for painting. It will be established as a permanent and annually renewed part of the cultural centre’s activities. The first work will be unveiled to the public at Cable Factory’s Night of the Arts on 20 August 2026.

The artwork will be on display for one year, after which a new open call will be launched and the gallery’s featured work will change. The graffiti gallery will become part of the Cable Factory Round tour concept, to be released later and designed for all visitors.

– Our aim is to create a professional exhibition platform exclusively for graffiti artists. We want to increase the appreciation of graffiti art in Finland and offer Cable Factory’s visitors more continuously accessible and regularly renewing art content, says KAAPELI’s managing director Kai Huotari.

Open portfolio call 4–22 March 2026

The artist who will create the first work for Cable Factory’s graffiti gallery will be selected through an open portfolio call in March. The decision will be announced in April 2026.

The call is open to graffiti artists aged 18 or over who live and work permanently in Finland. Applicants may apply individually, as a duo or as a group. Applications may be submitted under the artist’s own name or a pseudonym.

A fee of 10,000 euros will be paid for the commissioned work. It includes paints and painting supplies as well as any travel and accommodation expenses. The detailed production schedule will be agreed with the selected artist or working group.

The artist will be selected by a committee that includes KAAPELI’s managing director Kai Huotari, KAAPELI board member and visual artist Anna Tuori and Upeart’s art coordinator Yiorgos Slunga. Portfolios will be treated confidentially and will not be kept after the selection process is complete.

A long history in street art

KAAPELI has a long history with street art in Helsinki spanning several decades. A work painted by French artist Thierry Noir in 1994 in Cable Factory’s gateway is among the earliest murals in Helsinki. In 2009, the company opened Finland’s first legal graffiti wall in Suvilahti. In 2025, a nearly 200-square-metre series of murals about Cable Factory’s history was completed in the building’s basement. The new graffiti gallery is a natural continuation of this long-standing work and KAAPELI’s commitment to street art.

The rules for the portfolio call, participation guidelines and images of the exhibition space are available in the materials folder (Dropbox).

More information:
Kai Huotari, Managing director, KAAPELI (Kiinteistö Oy Kaapelitalo), kai.huotari@kaapeli.com, tel. +358 50 384 1557