Marjukka Vainio: The Weight of Seeing 

4 December 2026–18 April 2027 (Engel)

This major solo showing of works by Marjukka Vainio will run in Hämeenlinna Art Museum’s Engel Building from 4 December 2026 until 18 April 2027.
The museum’s collection comprises almost 200 works by the artist, including a significantbequest made through the artist’s estate.

Though local to Hämeenlinna, Marjukka Vainio (1953–2019) was decidedly international in her outlook, capturing images of Lake Vanaja at home and exhibiting them in New York and at the carnivals in Venice. The sheer breadth of Vainio’s photographic series ranges from the documentary to the experimental. Due to be featured in the exhibition are works from her Hommage à Ester Helenius series, the Hämeenlinna – Vanai series commission by the City of Hämeenlinna as well as the Hämeenlinna, the Land of Vanai collection. The exhibition is curated by Riikka Kuittinen, curator.

Eija-Liisa Ahtila: April ≈ 61°01′ 24°27′  

4 December 2026–24 May 2027 (Lohrmann)

Eija-Liisa Ahtila’s April ≈ 61°01′ 24°27′ (2024, 7 min 11 sec, 4K, UHD 16:9, Audio 8.0) was shot during the spring months of 2022 and 2023 in a protected woodland in Aulanko, Hämeenlinna. As it charts the seasons’ passage from winter to summer, the artwork turns its focus to the multitude of relationships within the woodland and the role the flora and fauna play in this unique setting. April ≈ 61°01′ 24°27′ sees Ahtila resuming her exploration of ecological narratives using moving-image practice and represents a rejection of an anthropocentric view of the world. 

Discover more: https://crystaleye.fi/eija-liisa_ahtila/installations/april 

The exhibition, in Hämeenlinna Art Museum’s Lohrmann Building, will run from 4 December 2026 to 24 May 2027.

An in-depth solo exhibition of Eija-Liisa Ahtila’s (b. 1959) works was held at Hämeenlinna Art Museum in 2016. In 2021, the artist was announced as the recipient of the Ars Fennica, Finland’s leading contemporary art prize. Works by Ars Fennica shortlistees went on display at Hämeenlinna Art Museum in 2021–2022.

Save Our Art! The Journey from Vyborg to Hämeenlinna

21 May–24 October 2027 (Engel)

In summer 2027, Hämeenlinna Art Museum will be returning to its roots, and making a stand, with Save the Art! The Journey from Vyborg to Hämeenlinna. The exhibition will be display in the museum’s Engel Building from 21 May to 24 October 2027. Save the Art! charts the evacuation of Vyborg Art Museum on the eve of World War II in autumn 1939. It also explores the events that led to the founding of Hämeenlinna Art Museum as a new home for the rescued artworks. The exhibition storyline will be by Dr Anna Kortelainen, one Finland’s foremost art historians.

Save the Art! is an immersive retelling of the artworks’ long journey to their new home, a story that highlights the importance of protecting art and artists in an increasingly hard-edged and polarised world. Visitors will have the opportunity to see the rescued artworks and to discover the personalities and life stories of the people who made the operation possible. Ultimately, this is a story of hope: the art from Viipuri was saved and continues to be relevant and to influence us to this day. A sister exhibition, titled Save the Art! The Journey from Viipuri to Lappeenranta takes place at South Karelia Museum in Lappeenranta (28 March–4 October 2026).

Tellervo Kalleinen and Oliver Kochta-Kalleinen: Wormholes 

18 Jue 2027–Spring 2028 (Lohrmann)

In July 2027, Save the Art! will be joined by Tellervo Kalleinen (b. 1975) and Oliver Kochta-Kalleinen’s (b. 1971) joint solo exhibition titled Wormholes. Housed in the museum’s Lohrmann Building, it finds connections between the past, the present and the future, with a series of selected works being given an update and paired with new works that speak to the present moment. Also included in the exhibition is the pair’s The Most Valuable Clock in the World, which forms part of the European Capital of Culture celebrations taking place in the Finnish city of Oulu this year. 

Future NOW

26 November 2027–Spring 2028 (Engel)

In November 2027 the Future NOW exhibition sees a number of international artist collectives coming together to explore contemporary issues of their choice under the auspices of Hämeenlinna Art Museum. The Future NOW initiative is supported by the Wihuri Foundation’s Partner Museums programme.