This Is What I Want to Say (2026)

Purkutaide’s 10th Anniversary Exhibition This Is What I Want to Say at the Arabia 135 Block in Helsinki

2,400 square metres of former University of Art and Design Helsinki facilities that stood empty for years in the historic Arabia 135 block. 90 artists from diverse backgrounds. 55 immersive and multisensory installations. This is what Purkutaide’s 10th anniversary exhibition This Is What I Want to Say is made of.

Founded in 2016, Purkutaide has spent the past decade successfully moving against the current of the Finnish art scene. We are a collective from Kerava producing art and cultural projects in buildings awaiting demolition and other vacant urban spaces.

In a world of diminishing resources, we believe it is important to act resource-wise and to learn to recognise the potential of spaces that have fulfilled their original purpose as platforms for art and culture. At the same time, we want to draw attention to environments that often go unnoticed in the urban landscape or remain in a state of limbo before their next purpose.

Through our exhibitions, we challenge conventional ideas of what art exhibitions should be like. Minimalist museum and gallery exhibitions will undoubtedly continue to hold an important place in the art world, but alongside them there is also a need for deliberately experiential alternatives.

At Purkutaide, we believe in a more is more philosophy: multisensory spaces, surprise, and immersive experiences. The exhibition spreads through former studios, corridors, classrooms, and workspaces, where visitors move from one installation to another as if stepping into a constantly transforming reality. Our exhibitions are designed as low-threshold experiences in which everyone should feel welcome.

Did you visit our exhibition but not enjoy everything you saw and experienced? Good — that was intentional.

Was there too much to take in during a single visit? Almost certainly.

We want to challenge our visitors to encounter perspectives different from their own and to reflect on both their relationship with art and their experience of the world we all share. Alongside heavier themes, we also curate lighter, calmer spaces that offer moments to pause and breathe.

This Is What I Want to Say is Purkutaide’s thirteenth production. Our aim is to create exhibitions that follow their own paths in content, expression, and overall experience — constantly evolving with each new production while responding to the unique characteristics of the exhibition space in use at the time.

Once again, the exhibition has been created by both academically trained and self-taught artists who together form an equal community. The artists for our exhibitions are selected through an open application process that values fresh ideas, important themes, and a distinctive artistic voice demonstrated through portfolio work.

"We are now operating for the second year in the former University of Art and Design Helsinki facilities in the Arabia 135 block. This has allowed us to invest an exceptional amount into the artistic content of the anniversary exhibition, technical production, and the construction of the exhibition spaces. As a result, the exhibition celebrating our ten-year journey is also the most ambitious and polished production we have created so far.

At this ten-year milestone, what I am most proud of is our community, which already includes hundreds of artists. It is a community where nobody questions another person’s identity as an artist, but instead actively supports others in moving forward. Choosing to become an artist is already difficult enough without adding gatekeeping on top of it.

I am also deeply moved by the passion with which our artists approach their work and with which this exhibition has been created. Something about that passion is reflected in the fact that there are 2,400 square metres of art here, and that a single six-square-metre room alone has been worked on for more than 400 hours", says Purkutaide’s artistic director Jouni Väänänen.

Over the past few years, the Arabia 135 block has developed into a significant hub for creative industries and alternative cultural activity. The area is home to artists, designers, restaurants, cafés, museums, and other cultural operators, making it easy to spend an entire day immersed in art, food, and urban culture.