Still

Still invites visitors to linger and look slowly at art, making room for aesthetic experiences and reflection. Works from the museum’s collection unfold through a curious gaze and attentive presence, without needing to know or understand immediately. The exhibition considers how we might nurture aesthetic sensitivity in today’s world and how slower looking can reveal what often goes unnoticed: everyday beauty, the passage of time, and the viewer’s inner world and place in the universe.

The exhibition brings together paintings, drawings, prints, photographs, sculptures and moving image works by twenty predominantly Finnish artists, spanning the 1970s to the 2020s. The curatorial selection focuses particularly on recent acquisitions and works that have rarely been exhibited. The selected works share an interest in materiality, perception, time and space. The exhibition’s restrained aesthetic is built on pared-down forms, surfaces that appeal to the sense of touch, and the relationships between the works.

The exhibition features works by Heini Aho, Inka Bell, Juhana Blomstedt, Bård Breivik, Elina Brotherus, Saara Ekström, Kristján Guðmundsson, Helena Hietanen, Juha Joro, Pentti Kaskipuro, Matti Kujasalo, Leena Luostarinen, Umppa Niinivaara, Pekka Pitkänen, Silja Rantanen, Ulrich Rückriem, Päivi Sirén, Kain Tapper and Miikka Vaskola. A work by Petri Ala-Maunus will join the display in spring 2027 when it is returned from loan.

The title Still evokes silence, stillness and tranquillity, as well as continuity. It encourages visitors to trust their own observations, feelings and thoughts, and to see the familiar differently. No prior knowledge is needed to engage with the works, but an accompanying booklet offers artist introductions, suggestions for easing into slow looking, and the curators’ reflections on the ideas behind the exhibition. Five perspectives – horizon, everyday beauty, mystery, light and time – frame the conversations about aesthetic experience, the thinking that emerges through looking, and the ideas behind the selection of works.

The exhibition is curated by Elli Liippo and Annina Sirén at Turku Art Museum. Its planning has focused on creating conditions that encourage visitors to linger, in collaboration with specialists in architecture, accessibility, performative art and sound. The exhibition’s soundscape was created by Laura Naukkarinen and Antti Tolvi.

Alongside the exhibition, the museum will introduce quiet visiting hours and further develop its sensory-friendly services. The grant from the Finnish Heritage Agency for innovative projects will also support an extensive programme of related events and activities throughout 2027–2028.