ARS FENNICA 2021 Award nominees unveiled at Hämeenlinna Town Hall

Eija-Liisa Ahtila, born 1959, Finland

Anne-Karin Furunes, born 1961, Norway

Jesper Just, born 1974, Denmark

Viggo Wallensköld, born 1969, Finland

Magnus Wallin, born 1965, Sweden

The Henna and Pertti Niemistö Art Foundation – ARS FENNICA sr was established in 1990 to promote the arts by opening up new channels for Finnish visual art internationally.

Since 1991, the Foundation has in alternate years awarded the ARS FENNICA prize in recognition of individual artistic work of outstanding quality. The Award is accompanied by an exhibition tour and a catalogue by all the nominee artists. Previous ARS FENNICA award recipients have hailed from Finland, other Nordic countries, and the Baltic States.

The prize was first awarded in 1991. To honour its 30th anniversary, the prize has been raised to €50,000.

The winner will be selected by an international art expert appointed by an award panel. The award winner will be announced on February 10th, 2022. Members of the public will also have the opportunity to vote for their favourite artist at the Ars Fennica 2021 exhibition.

An exhibition of works by the ARS FENNICA 2021 candidates will be held at Hämeenlinna Art Museum from October 15th, 2021 to April 3rd, 2022. The exhibition is produced in cooperation with Pro Av Saarikko Oy.

In 1995, Henna and Pertti Niemistö’s significant collection of contemporary art was deposited with Hämeenlinna Art Museum. The collection includes numerous works by various ARS FENNICA nominees.

The foundation is currently under the leadership of Leena and Kari Niemistö. They continue the founders’ work by adding works to the Niemistö collection. To celebrate the anniversary, the Niemistös wanted to bring the ARS FENNICA 2021 exhibition and the award ceremony to Hämeenlinna where it all began.

For more information and photos of candidates and their works, please see www.arsfennica.fi/en/media. Password: FENNICA.