Kiasma

Kiasma is a contemporary art museum located on Mannerheimintie in Helsinki, Finland. Its name kiasma, Finnish for chiasma, alludes to the basic conceptual idea of its architect, Steven Holl. Kiasma is part of the Finnish National Gallery, and it is responsible for the gallery's contemporary art collection. Its central goal is to showcase contemporary art and to strengthen its status.

Kiasma

The northern side of the Kiasma building
The location of the museum in Helsinki Show map of Helsinki (mainland) Kiasma (Finland) Show map of Finland
Former name	Museum of Contemporary Art (Finnish: Nykytaiteen museo)
Established	1990 (1990) (Museum of Contemporary Art) 1998 (1998) (opening of Kiasma building)
Location	Helsinki, Finland
Coordinates	60.17169°N 24.93683°E / 60.17169; 24.93683
Type	Art museum
Collections	Contemporary art
Visitors	295,000 (2017)
Director	Leevi Haapala
Owner	Finnish National Gallery
Website	www.kiasma.fi/en/

History

Under construction in Autumn 1996

Nearly complete in Autumn 1997, with the now-demolished VR warehouses on the northern side

The contemporary art collection began as the Museum of Contemporary Art (Finnish: Nykytaiteen museo) in 1990. In its earliest stages, the collection was housed in Ateneum.

An architectural design competition to design a building for the contemporary arts museum was held in 1992. The competition was open to architects from the Nordic and Baltic countries, in addition to which four architects or studios from elsewhere were invited to participate, though they were obliged to submit their proposals anonymously: Steven Holl from the US, Alvaro Siza from Portugal, Coop Himmelb(l)au from Austria, and Kazuo Shinohara from Japan.^[1] The competition results were announced in 1993, and the winning proposal, titled Chiasma by Steven Holl, was selected from the 516 submitted entries. The design of the building, Finnish-ized as "Kiasma", underwent slight modification during the design process, but nevertheless was regarded as controversial; for instance its close proximity to the equestrian statue of Finnish President Carl Gustaf Emil Mannerheim.^[2] Construction work began in 1996, and the museum opened in May 1998.^[3]

The museum attracted 160,000–180,000 visitors per year in 2011–2013.^[4]

Kiasma was closed for repairs in September 2014 and reopened in March 2015.^[3][5] In 2016, Kiasma attracted over 310,000 visitors.^[6]

Collections

The collections include works by around 8,000 artists,^[7] including Reetta Ahonen, Martti Aiha, Jan van Andersson Aken, Anders Gustaf, Antonio Rotta, Bernard Baron, Stig Baumgartner, Cornelis Pietersz Bega, Erik Snedsbøl, Nicolas Berchem, Honoré Daumier, Karel Dujardin, Nunzio Gulino [it], Torger Enckell [fi], Aarne Jämsä [fi], Ismo Kajander [fi], Raimo Kanerva [fi], Søren Dahlgaard and Risto Laakkonen.^{[citation needed]}

Gallery

• 
  Front lobby
• 
  Front lobby, view from the entrance
• 
  Interior and staircase
• 
  Staircase, with a view of the Parliament House
• 
  Stairs seen from 5th floor
• 
  Natural lighting
• 
  Open space
• 
  Theatre
• 
  Kiasma Café
• 
  Northeast side, with zinc plating (the details on the very northern end are of brass)
• 
  Southern side

View from the north of the Kansalaistori Square [fi], with Kiasma on the right, to the left Helsinki Central Library Oodi and Sanoma House [fi]

View from the south, with Helsinki Central Station visible on the right edge

See also

• Finnish National Gallery
  • Ateneum
  • Sinebrychoff Art Museum
• EMMA – Espoo Museum of Modern Art
• List of national galleries

Further reading

• Nancy Marmer, "Holl's Kiasma Debuts in Helsinki," Art in America, October 1998, p. 35.