Short history of Ars exhibitions 1961-2011

The first ARS exhibition was opened in October 1961, and it was followed by further ARS exhibitions in 1969, 1974, 1983, 1995, 2001 and 2006. ARS 11 opened in April 2011 and is the eighth exhibition in this major series of Finnish exhibitions. From the outset ARS exhibitions have aimed to present international contemporary art to the Finnish public and artists. Up until the 1980s the major European exhibitions Documenta in Kassel and the Venice Biennale provided the inspiration for ARS. Especially in the beginning, ARS exhibitions represented the official and public cultural policies of Finland, and presidents and ministers served as their patrons. The inaugural ARS exhibition in 1961 was even planned together with the French, Spanish and Italian embassies, and the works were displayed in order of country.

ARS 61 was organised at a time of great anticipation regarding the modernisation of Finnish art. There was a desire to raise Finnish art to the international level and leave behind the isolation of the Second World War and the post-war years. The exhibition consisted of works by Italian, Spanish, French and Finnish artists, much of which represented the art trend known in Finland as informalism.

ARS 69 presented new trends in art, including minimalistic art, neorealism and kinetic art. In addition to Europeans, the exhibition featured artists from the USA, Japan and Latin America.

ARS 74 focused on realism. The original idea of “East meets West” did not materialise, as the Soviet Union did not participate. The exhibition therefore explored the theme by presenting contemporary works of art that represented realism in different ways. In the words of the exhibition commissioner Salme Sarajas-Korte: “The cohesive theme is reality as the basis for art and the opportunities that this provides for contemporary artists.”

ARS 83 introduced Finnish audiences for the first time to video art and performance art. The exhibition was a big success, and many young artists felt liberated and inspired by it. The museum’s external funding was publicised openly for the first time with this exhibition.

ARS 95 was in many ways a watershed in the history of ARS exhibitions. The previous exhibition had been held 12 years previously, and the world had changed. ARS 95 presented an opportunity to showcase the international activities and plans of the museum of contemporary art, which in a few years would move into its new home at Kiasma. The field of contemporary art had expanded considerably by the mid-1990s, and a general presentation of contemporary art no longer seemed appropriate. The theme of the exhibition was the distinction between private and public as a component of modernity.

ARS 01 explored the substantive change of contemporary art as different cultures interact and as the artists themselves move about, either nomadically from one residency to another or from developing countries and regions throughout Asia, South America and India to Europe or the USA in search of the opportunities offered by education, galleries and art institutes. The theme of the exhibition was “The Third Space” after the concept articulated by Homi K. Babha.

ARS 06 presented the theme “Sense of the Real”. The idea was to connect the exhibition to previous one, ARS 01, and to explore the world that was born on 11 September 2001. The artists weighed and depicted in their works the unstable, fragile, changing world in which nothing was as before despite first impressions. Humans still experienced the same great emotions of love, hate, faith, violence and mercy whose mutual tensions defined life. Asian art was on the rise already in Venice in 1999 and 2001, and it was not long before it caught the interest of all major art institutes, also in Finland. Several major Asian biennales had been inaugurated in the 1990s, including in Shanghai, Busan and Gwangju in South Korea, and Singapore.

ARS exhibitions have never been just about art but rather, as with all exhibitions, about simple events at specific moments in times, in specific places and in specific groupings. They have been about institutions, the economy, professions, interaction and communications. ARS exhibitions are an integral part of the history of Finnish contemporary art, and accordingly they have been of great importance specifically for Finns. Having found a wide audience, ARS exhibitions have also helped educate new art enthusiasts and open the road for new Finnish and international art. They have proven their vitality and usefulness already for 50 years.