Generation 2023
29 March–20 August 2023
General content warnings for the exhibition:
noise, flashing images
Before your visit
We recommend buying tickets online in advance, even if you have a Museum Card. With an online ticket, you ensure that you can enter the museum at exactly the time of your choice. If there is a queue at the museum, only those with tickets bought online may skip the line.
If you have purchased a ticket online, arrive at the museum from the Kamppi side, through the accessible entrance from Lasipalatsi Square. If we are busy, there will be a queue at the ticket office at the main doors to buy tickets, but with an online ticket you don’t need to line up at the main doors. So, enter from the Lasipalatsi square and show your ticket at the checkpoint, and you will receive that day’s entry sticker. Welcome to the museum!
If you need accessible entry, you can enter through the doors on the Lasipalatsi Square side even without a pre-purchased online ticket. The door also serves as an entrance for groups that have reserved guided tours or art workshops.
Amos Rex is often quieter on weekday afternoons and after 6pm on weekdays. In the mornings, there are many school and day-care groups, especially between 12 April and 1 June.
General information about the exhibition
Amos Rex’s Generation 2023 is the third in a series of exhibitions presenting art and visual culture by young artists, held every three years. Fifty artists and working pairs were selected for the exhibition through an open call. The selected works represent painting, sculpture, textile art, photography, installations, video art, sound art and performance art.
The themes of the works include the ecological crisis, gender identity and the Covid pandemic, as well as mental health and the role of art in dealing with these difficult topics. In addition, social awareness and responsibility as well as environmental friendliness and sustainability can be seen in many artists’ focus, as well as in the methods and materials of their works. It’s a good idea to think about or discuss the topics in advance, especially if you’re visiting with a child. There is no content that is unsuitable for children in the exhibition, but some works may have a tense atmosphere.
Exhibition route
The recommended direction for visiting the Generation 2023 exhibition is from the right edge to the left as seen from the entrance doors, i.e. counter-clockwise. However, you are free to move in any direction you want.
In the exhibition space, in addition to the works, you will find texts with information about the works and other additional information about the exhibition, including content warnings. The exhibition brochure is free and available in English, Finnish and Swedish. You can also find the brochure online:
The exhibition space is quite bright, with daylight from two large skylights. One work has a rapidly changing, occasionally flickering image (more information is provided in a detailed, work-specific notice).
In principle, you may not touch the works in the exhibition, unless this is specifically mentioned in a sign about the work. The works in the exhibition feature a wide range of materials. In the Studio Rex art workshop space, you can explore different materials used in contemporary art, and in this space, you may also touch the materials. Please hold children by the hand while visiting the exhibition.
You may take photos without a flash at the exhibition. Please be considerate of staff and other visitors.
The exhibition includes several video works that include sound. In some of the works, the sounds are heard through headphones, while others are heard through speakers. Below you will find more detailed work-specific information. Hearing protectors can be borrowed from the lower lobby of the museum for those with sensory sensitivities. Ask the staff for more information.
You can visit the exhibition halls with a wheelchair, electric wheelchair, rollator, pram or stroller. A few parts of the exhibition space may be a bit more crowded, so during busy times you may have to wait a little to examine works that only a few people can participate in at a time.
There are discussion guides working at the exhibition. Feel free to ask them for more information about the works or Amos Rex services, for instance.
Content and sensory notices for works
On this page, we have collected information about works that may require special attention in terms of content or sensory load, as well as works that you can touch in some way, as an exception.
Juho Lehiö
face: to put on a face, to remove a face
A mixed-media installation that deals with make-up and appearance. The work discusses how technology can change appearance and how extreme this can be.
The piece includes two make-up tables, make-up tools, a video and a face filter. You can try the filter on your own face by sitting on a chair in front of the screen.
Sit in front of the camera and try the filters for yourself. The filter is activated when you tilt your head to the right.
Viivi Saikkonen
Love is Hard
An installation that includes sculptures, three video works and a pink velvet huggable chair that you can wrap your arms around. The videos have speech and techno music, which you can hear through headphones. You can watch the videos while seated or standing. You may only touch the chair and headphones, not the sculptures.
Janna Lindfors
As the Evening Falls
The installation includes a tent sewn from pieces of light fabric and a charcoal drawing animation that is projected onto its wall. You can hear sounds through speakers in the space. The work can accommodate five people at a time. You can also see the animation from outside the tent.
This work deals with loss.
Ida Tomminen
Botanical Excellence
A ryijy rug installation that you may sit on. Do not climb or go onto the rug with shoes on.
You may sit on the ryijy rug.
Leevi Toija
Constructing Spaces of Memory
A video piece depicting a pile of sand. The work also includes a paper printout (manifesto) that you can take with you. The piece does not include any sound.
Antti Järvelä & Robin Berende
F41.1
The work deals with issues related to mental health, especially anxiety. The purpose of the work is to simulate various physical and psychological sensations related to anxiety, and how they are formed. F41.1 is the diagnosis code for generalised anxiety disorder.
The work may seem oppressive. A rapidly changing, occasionally flashing image is projected onto the walls. The piece has a soundscape that is occasionally loud, but also includes calmer sections. The work is in a separate room with curtains over the doorways, through which you cannot see the flashing light.
Several people can enter the room at a time. The space has a powerful image and soundscape that fills the entire room. In the centre of the room are four pedestals, each with a heart rate monitor. Each meter can only be used by one person at a time, and the pulse curve of the person being measured is reflected on the wall. More detailed instructions about doing the measurement are listed in the space.
This work may be disturbing. The work features flashing images and occasionally loud sound.
Juulia Vanhatalo
Filter
The video piece is a comment on how we modify our own appearance and social media photos using various photo editing programs and filters. The video work has a quiet sound from the projector, which you can hear through speakers in the space.
Rong-Ci Zhang
Frigid Zone Rainforest
A collection of works dealing with migration and being a foreigner in Finland. You can browse copies of the comic book in the space. Do not touch the glass bowl or the water.
Samir Kuronen
Ana/Me
A video piece that deals with the artist’s Moroccan-Finnish identity. The imagery in the work may make some viewers tense.
Claudia Hirvonen
One
A minimalist black-and-white video work that deals with unity and coming together. The work is projected onto a stand on the floor, accompanied by a gentle soundscape that plays through speakers near the work.
Mimmi Ahonen
This is a Confession
A text-based poster series for which the artist has collected anonymous confessions from random people. Some of the texts may be disturbing.
Some of the texts in the work may be disturbing.
The texts on the posters are in Finnish. You can also find translations into English and Swedish in the space.
Performance art works in the Generation 2023 exhibition
The exhibition includes several works of performance art that you can experience at certain pre-defined times. The staff is happy to tell you more about these works and how the performances can be experienced in the space.
Performances at Generation 2023
Two of these works are experienced outside of the exhibition hall
Siiri Hänninen & Jon Pettersson
Audio Walk
The auditory work guides you to stop and observe the surrounding urban space and its “non-places” with new eyes.
The piece can be listened to on the website in Finnish from your own device. Listening should be done in an urban environment with your own headphones (preferably open ones rather than noise-cancelling headphones). Translations of the work can be found on the website.
There is also a reserved place for listening to the piece in the street-level lobby of Amos Rex. The staff will be happy to direct you to the listening point.
Maija Fox
A Maple Wingnut; Greeting with chimneys and adjusting with the moment
An outdoor sculpture depicting a maple seed moving in the wind. The best place to see the work is from street level on Mannerheimintie, near Amos Rex’s main entrance.
Studio Rex
Studio Rex is the museum’s space for artistic research. Here you can tune in and delve deeper into the current exhibition, as well as relax and reflect on the art you have just experienced. Everyone is welcome – no matter what relationship you have with art.
You can pop into this space during your visit to the exhibition or book an art workshop for your group.
In the Studio Rex space during the Generation 2023 exhibition, you can lie on the carpet, touch various material samples, breathe, lie down and chat or be silent.
The space has a calm soundscape and a looping video projection that lasts less than 10 minutes and has a rather strong red tone at times. You can use noise-cancelling headphones in the space, which is dimly lit.
When visiting the exhibition, you can also enter Studio Rex even if there is a group participating in an art workshop. However, please be considerate so that the group can work in peace. Studio Rex is divided by a partition, with one side reserved for art workshops. The two sides are marked.
