World Art - The Museum of Contemporary Art Kiasma -ARS 06

"ARS 06- International Exhibition"
21 January-27 August 2006 Kiasma

Kiasma, Museum of Contemporary Art
Helsinki, Finland

Art is part of humanity at ARS 06
"Being human is built on the marriage of good and evil, strange and familiar, joy and sorrow, being asleep and being awake – a dialogue of polar opposites. In the dialogue, the latter term denies the former and the former the latter. Things only become real when connected to each other; there is no good without evil, no sorrow without joy."
-Museum Director, Tuula KarjalainenArtists

In 2006, The Museum of Contemporary Art Kiasma will organise the 7th international ARS exhibition, an important review of contemporary art in the 21st century. The first ARS exhibition was held in 1961.
Art seeks diverse ways of understanding reality. All ARS exhibitions have aroused discussion and many of the works exhibited have continued to live on in the minds of the spectators. Each ARS exhibition has formed a picture of its time and offered unforgettable experiences.

Approximately 40 artists and collectives from almost 20 countries are to participate in the exhibition. In the exhibition, the participating artists will either present several works or one extensive work. The participants will include seven USA artists. The works exhibited offer moving experiences, small miracles.

ARS 06 concentrates on art’s role as a part of the human experience. The works will be accompanied by changing projects. The programme is varied and includes events, seminars, workshops and lectures, as well as a series of performances in the Kiasma Theatre.

The central themes of ARS 06 are the values and ideals of our time, our ability to be good and evil, as well as the capacity of art to offer consolation and touching experiences, a small miracle. Some 40 contemporary artists from all over the world have been invited to join the exhibition. The ARS programme includes seminars, workshops, lectures and a series of performance at Kiasma Theatre. Exhibition team Chair: Tuula Karjalainen, PhD, Director of Kiasma; other members: Kati Kivinen, exhibition coordinator, Patrik Nyberg, curator, Marja Sakari, senior curator, and Jari-Pekka Vanhala, curator.
The ARS programme at Kiasma Theatre is compiled by Virve Sutinen, producer. The exhibition content, artists and art is presented in an exhibition publication, edited by Marja Sakari and Jari-Pekka Vanhala.
The exhibition design, created by Taivas Design, will embellish several products, Kiasma itself and the streetscape.
The first ARS exhibition was organised in Helsinki in 1961, and ARS 06 is the seventh ARS exhibition.
In connection to the exhibition, Kiasma will produce a series of ARS-products called Minor Blessings. The series include e.g. chocolate, candels, soap, notebook and rubbing oil.

Exhbiting Artists:
AES+F group (Russia),
Michaël Borremans (Belgium),
Jota Castro (Peru),
Dinos & Jake Chapman (Great Britain),
Petah Coyne (USA),
Amy Cutler (USA),
Berlinde De Bruyckere (Belgium),
Willie Doherty (North Ireland),
Juan Manuel Echavarria (Columbia),
El Perro group (Spain),
Angelo Filomeno (Italy),
Carl Michael von Hausswolff &
Thomas Nordanstad (Sweden)
Kent Henricksen (USA),
IC-98 (Finland),
Jesper Just (Denmark),
Tellervo Kalleinen &
Oliver Kochta-Kalleinen (Finland/Germany),
Juul Kraijer (Holland),
Edouard Levé (France),
Walter Martin &
Paloma Muñoz (USA/Spain),
Mariele Neudecker (Germany),
Jun Nguyen-Hatsushiba (Japan/Vietnam),
Lars Nilsson (Sweden),
Motohiko Odani (Japan),
Susan Philipsz (Great Britain),
Chloe Piene (USA),
Alexandr Ponomarev (Russia),
Mark Raidpere (Estonia),
Charles Sandison (Great Britain),
Monika Sosnowska (Poland),
Gerda Steiner &
Jörg Lenzlinger (Swizerland),
Tabaimo (Japan),
Montri Toemsombat (Thailand),
Roi Vaara (Finland),
Shu-Min Lin (Taiwan/USA),
Adriana Varejão (Brazil),
Yuri Vasiliev (Russia),
Sergio Vega (Argentina/USA),
Maaria Wirkkala (Finland),
Mai Yamashita & Naoto Kobayashi (Japan)

ARS 06
ARS artists appeared in Venice