7.3.2026 - 8.8.2026

Flashback

It’s time to celebrate! For 10 years, Seinäjoki’s Summer Artists have been creating amazing art experiences together with the local audience.

Each summer since 2017, the City of Seinäjoki has employed a professional artist or art student to work as a Summer Artist. The Flashback group exhibition brings together six Summer Artists from 2018 to 2023. The exhibition displays new works from Eetu Kevarinmäki (Summer Artist of 2018), Aeon Lux (Summer Artist of 2019), Sofi Häkkinen (Summer Artist of 2020), Riikka Gröndahl (Summer Artist of 2021), Olivia Viitakangas (Summer Artist of 2022), Baran Caginli (Summer Artist of 2023). The exhibition will include site-specific art, sculptures, paintings, photographs and installations.

The Summer Artist, “Kesäkuvataiteilija” in Finnish, works as an employee for two months with their own independent artistic project that has been visible or participatory to the citizens of the city. The City of Seinäjoki’s Summer Artist program has broadened the view of the possibilities in which municipalities can cooperate with visual artists and act as an employer. The program has been a unique opportunity for a visual artist starting out in their career. At the same time, the Summer Artists and their work have become a beloved art of the summer in the City of Seinäjoki. Each project has been adventurous, fresh and unexpected. Summer Artists have, among other things, created bread sculptures, archived video portraits, and explored the possibility of chance.

The Flashback group exhibition is a glimpse into the past and a clear vision of the future. The name Flashback refers to memories and recollections. The artists return to the works of the summer art year, but above all, they look ahead.

The exhibition will be on display at Kunsthalle Seinäjoki’s exhibition space Vintti 7.3.—8.8.2026.

The exhibition opening will be held in conjunction with Kalevan Navetta’s Afterwork Art event on March 6, 2026.

 

Artists

Eetu Kevarinmäki (b. 1993) was the Summer Artist in 2018. He works mainly with internet, phone, scanner and laptop. In his practice, Kevarinmäki mines a vast amount of image data from the internet and investigates the power of images. His works collide dark future scenarios with humor. Kevarinmäki has studied at the Turku Art Academy.

Aeon Lux (b. 1993) was the Summer Artist in 2019. She is a Seinäjoki-based visual artist. She works with ceramic sculpture, painting, drawing and performance art. Lux’s art is driven by her desire to explore reality. Metaphysical and esoteric questions are often the starting points of her work. Aeon Lux graduated as a visual artist from Kankaanpää Art School in 2017.

Sofi Häkkinen (b. 1990) was the Summer Artist in 2020. In her artistic work she focuses on sculpture and performance. She is the artistic director of Recover Laboratory, a multi-art collective. Häkkinen is studying for the Master’s degree in the sculpture programme at the Finnish Academy of Fine Arts. She holds a Master of Arts degree from Aalto University (ViCCA, 2018) and a Master of Fine Arts degree from TAMK (Master of Fine Arts, 2016).

Olivia Viitakangas (b. 1999) was the Summer Artist in 2022. In her installation-based practice, Viitakangas explores the sensing and site-specific body. She uses objects and materials that are selected in relation to the context of the place, its sensory qualities, and material structures. Viitakangas is currently studying sculpture at the Academy of Fine Arts at the University of the Arts Helsinki.

Riikka Gröndahl (b.1989) was the Summer Artist in 2021.  She is a visual artist working with video, participatory art and drawing. Gröndahl is interested in repetition, duration and encounters between the inner and outer worlds. Gröndahl’s works have been exhibited in Helsinki, Turku, Seinäjoki, Gothenburg and other art galleries, as well as at numerous film festivals around the world. Gröndahl holds a Master’s degree in Fine Arts from Valand Academy, University of Gothenburg in 2018.

Baran Caginli (b. 1990) was the Summer Artist in 2023. His work deals with broad universal and global themes encompassing governmental power relations, conflicts, identity, discrimination and oppression. Caginli works with photography, sculpture, installations and archival material. He often uses handmade elements and techniques. Caginli holds a Master of Fine Arts degree from the Finnish Academy of Fine Arts.