Nuoret 2026 (Young artists 2026) exhibition will showcase the latest art by artists under the age of 35 at Kunsthalle Helsinki in the summer of 2026. The artists for the exhibition will be selected through an open call, which starts today, August 25, and is open until September 15 at 3 p.m. The Artists' Association of Finland is responsible for organizing the open call.
Open call has now started for the Nuoret 2026 exhibition, which will open at Kunsthalle Helsinki in the summer of 2026.
The application process is open for artists and groups of artists who are either Finnish or who live and work in Finland. Applicants must be under the age of 35 at the end of the exhibition on 26 July 2026 (i.e. born on or after 27 July 1991). We invite applicants of all genders and linguistic, cultural and other minorities.
The Artists' Association of Finland is responsible for organizing the open call, after which Kunsthalle Helsinki will take over responsibility for the production of the exhibition.
The Exhibition Nuoret (Young Artists) has been organized since 1939. The Artists' Association has been responsible for organizing the Nuoret (Young Artists) exhibition in the 2000s, but this time the role of the Artists' Association is smaller than before. Even in the challenging economic situation, the Artists' Association of Finland and the Kunsthalle Helsinki have wanted to hold on to the Nuoret (Young Artists) exhibition, which has continued for almost a hundred years and has brought interesting young visual artists and works of art to the Finnish visual arts scene, exhibition after exhibition.
The Nuoret 2026 exhibition will be open at Kunsthalle Helsinki (Nervanderinkatu 3, Helsinki) from May 30 to July 26, 2026.
Maecenas Kilta will award the Young Artist Prize at the exhibition.
INFO: Apply for the exhibition
The application for the Nuoret 2026 exhibition is open from August 25, 2025, to September 15, 2025, at 3:00 p.m. Applications for the exhibition are submitted via an electronic application system.
The application process is open for artists and groups of artists who are either Finnish or who live and work in Finland. Applicants must be under the age of 35 at the end of the exhibition on 26 July 2026 (i.e. born on or after 27 July 1991). We invite applicants of all genders and linguistic, cultural and other minorities.
Artists or artist groups apply to the exhibition with work proposals. All artists will be paid an exhibition fee and exhibition remuneration. Kunsthalle Helsinki or the Artists' Association of Finland will not reimburse the material or other production costs of the works.
The works will be selected by a three-member jury consisting of visual artists and a representative of Kunsthalle Helsinki, chaired by photographic artist Aapo Huhta. The other members of the jury are visual artist Emma Luukkala and Kunsthalle Helsinki's representative, director Nina Toppila.
The exhibition jury reserves the right to request additional information and supplementary material from artists who have applied for the exhibition after the application period has ended. Preference will be given to artists who have not previously been featured in the Nuoret (Young artists) exhibitions.
Artists who submit their proposals for the exhibition will be notified of the selections personally. The list of artists selected for the exhibition will be published on the Artists’ Association’s website by the end of October 2025.
Proposals for the exhibition
One artist or artist group may propose 1–3 works for the exhibition. The works must be completed or scheduled for completion between 2024 and 2026.
The proposed works should be presented as clearly as possible.
Application form
1. Personal and contact details of the artist or group of artists
2. Biography of artist or artist group (maximum 1,000 characters)
3. More extensive presentation of artistic production (a website or a downloadable portfolio in PDF format)
4. Proposals for works or series of works (1–3): images of the works (max. size 20 MB), max. 2 images/work. File formats supported are JPEG and PNG. In addition to images, media works and installations must include information on the necessary presentation technology and the structure and hanging plan for the work. For moving image and media art works, please include a link to a password-protected or public video.
The application form is available in Finnish and English and can be filled out in Finnish, Swedish, or English.
LINK TO THE APPLICATION FORM: https://nuoret2026.artcurator.io/
Further information
If your question concerns the electronic application system, please contact:
administrative coordinator Laura Salo, Artists’ Association of Finland
tel. 040 8345 170, laura.salo@artists.fi (Mon-Thu)
If your question concerts the criteria of selecting artists or the content of the exhibition, please contact:
director Nina Toppila, Kunsthalle Helsinki
tel.. 040 581 5087, nina.toppila@taidehalli.fi
Call hours: Mon 1.9., Mon 8.9. and Fri 12.9. at 10 AM - 12 PM
Please also check out the most common questions and answers below. The questions and answers below may be updated during the application period.
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Nuoret (Young artists) 2026
Frequently Asked Questions
latest update 25.8.2025
When will the selections be announced?
- By October 31, 2025 latest
Is it possible to apply to the Nuoret 2026 exhibition both with your own work and as part of a group of artists?
- If you are applying to the exhibition both individually and as part of a working group, please submit separate applications for each. The application system does not allow multiple applications to be submitted with a single profile, so unfortunately you will need to use different email addresses for different applications.
Can students apply to participate in the exhibition even if they have not yet graduated?
- Students can apply to participate in the exhibition.
Do applicants to the Nuoret 2026 exhibition have to be professional artists?
- No, they don't have to be.
Can a group of artists apply to the exhibition if one of the members is not Finnish and does not live in Finland?
Yes, they can. However, the exhibition budget is limited, so it is rarely possible to cover the costs of transporting works and traveling to the hanging and opening for artists coming from outside Finland.
Is it possible to attach a portfolio to the application form?
Yes, it is. The portfolio can be either in PDF format (max. 20 MB) or a link to a website.
Are there any size restrictions for the works?
- No, but the dimensions and duration of the work are requested on the application form and may affect whether the work can be included in the exhibition.
How many works per artist will be selected for the exhibition? Can I apply with a series of works, for example, in which case the parts will be counted as one work?
- The jury has the right to decide on the total number of works. A single work may consist of several (even more than three) parts. If it is a series of independent works, you can apply with a maximum of three works.
Is the application process anonymous?
- No. Applicants have the opportunity to share their biography and portfolio or website with the jury, and the jury has the opportunity to ask the applicant for additional information about their work (through the jury secretary). Unfortunately, it has not been possible to anonymize the above-mentioned material and process.
Are there any written, transparent criteria on which the jury bases its decisions?
- The jury follows the Artists' Association's equality and non-discrimination plan in its work. The exhibition has financial and practical limits within which the jury must operate. Otherwise, the jury makes its decisions based on its artistic views and expertise.
Does the same jury select artists regardless of the genre of the work?
- The same jury is responsible for curating the entire Nuoret 2026 exhibition.
Can I apply if I have participated in some of the previous Nuoret (Young artists) exhibitions?
- You can apply, but preference will be given to artists who have not previously been featured in Nuoret (Young artists) exhibitions.
Can I submit a work of performance art, or can the proposed work be event-based?
- Yes, you can. You can apply with different art forms.
Can I apply to the exhibition with a work plan, as I did for the previous Nuoret 2023 exhibition?
- It is not possible to apply to the Nuoret 2026 exhibition with a work plan. This was possible in the Nuoret 2023 exhibition thanks to separate funding, which allowed the exhibition to pilot a model of employment for visual artists.