With Music Centre Fuuga and Turku City Theatre, WAM forms a new cultural hub on the banks of the Aura River, offering an unprecedented range of art and cultural experiences.
– As part of WAM’s renovation and renewal, we wanted to create space both for the wonderful Turku City Art Collection and for showing new phenomena in Finnish and international contemporary art. Our aim was to strengthen WAM’s international profile as an outstanding art museum while preserving the relaxed, welcoming atmosphere that has made it so beloved by the people of Turku. The new WAM will inspire, surprise and spark new ideas, says Museum Director Satu Pajarre.
International contemporary art, works by Wäinö Aaltonen and young people’s concerns about the Baltic Sea feature in the opening exhibitions
Canadian media artist Sabrina Ratté (b. 1982) presents Web of Wyrd, her first solo exhibition in the Nordic countries, in the museum’s new 450-square-metre gallery on the lower level.
The exhibition Web of Wyrd features eight works from the 2020s, presented as large-scale projections and photographic prints. Ratté’s visually immersive works reflect her interest in science fiction, contemporary spirituality and animism. For WAM, she creates a mysterious world of her own, blurring the boundaries between art and the exhibition space.
As part of the opening programme, Ratté’s work Archipels will be projected onto the museum’s façade daily from 17.00 to 19.00, from November through January. To accompany the exhibition, WAM is publishing Web of Wyrd, a book exploring Ratté’s artistic practice. The first in the new WAM publication series, the book offers a visual journey into the artist’s universe. The exhibition is curated by Anna Perälä of WAM.
The collection exhibition Primal Force – Works from the Turku City Art Collection brings together works by Wäinö Aaltonen and other significant pieces from the city’s art collection, spanning seven decades. The exhibition features more than 60 works, including 25 by Aaltonen.
The exhibition also showcases contemporary art from the 1960s to the present day, with works by Saara Ekström, Kauko Lehtinen, Heikki Marila and Laila Pullinen, among others. New acquisitions to the City of Turku Art Collection are also being presented for the first time. The collection’s most recent addition is Laura Lilja’s Cargo Dusk, completed in autumn 2026 specifically for the WAM exhibition. The exhibition is curated by WAM’s Eveliina Tammi and Riina Tiainen.
WAMx opens in the museum’s studio space, introducing a flexible, artist-led programme. Built around the exchange of ideas and collaboration, the programme brings together different art forms and creative practitioners.
WAMx launches with Notes on the State of the World, a portrait of the Baltic Sea and the children and young people who live along its shores. Artists Kati Rapia and Ilona Valkonen have travelled around the Baltic Sea, running workshops for local children and young people. During the workshops, participants created documentary costumes from marine litter and were then photographed wearing their creations.
The article continues after the gallery.
WAM is the new key partner for Finland’s exhibition at the Venice Biennale
WAM is the new key partner for Finland’s exhibition at the 2028 Venice Biennale. The collaboration will strengthen the museum’s international networks and its position in the contemporary art field.
The Venice Biennale is one of the world’s leading international events and meeting places for contemporary art, taking place every two years. Following the Biennale, the exhibition from the Finnish Pavilion will be presented at WAM in summer 2029, as part of Turku’s 800th anniversary celebrations. Finland’s exhibition at the Venice Biennale is commissioned and produced by Frame Contemporary Art Finland, the Finnish information centre for contemporary art.
Partners
WAM’s partners include Frame Contemporary Art Finland and the Western Dance Regional Centre. The exhibitions have received support from the Finnish Heritage Agency and the Uusimaa Regional Fund of the Finnish Cultural Foundation.
