A joint exhibition of five leading Finnish visual artists opens at Riemu Museums on June 18th

Institute of Voyeurism and Gardening (June 18–September 13, 2026) is a joint exhibition by five leading Finnish visual artists Pamela Brandt, Leonora Fredriksson, Susanne Gottberg, Sara Orava and Stiina Saaristo. The extensive exhibition, spread over two floors, consists of paintings, sculptures and drawings. The works open up vistas into memories, dreams, emotions and bodily experiences. The exhibition is complemented by works and objects selected from the collections of Riihimäki Art Museum and Riihimäki City Museum, around which the artists have built an imaginary institute in the museum premises.

Named themes guide the viewer through the exhibition. The exhibition halls are named according to the following themes: Hortus cultus – Garden; Natura – Nature; Passio – Suffering, passion; Sanctus – Holy; Somnium – Dream; Innocentia – Innocence; Nox – Night.

The artists describe the exhibition:

“Our exhibition is based on a collective and artist-driven process, where personal and shared remembering, fragility, desire, looking and becoming invisible are intertwined. Our works are united by a performativity that moves at the interfaces of the subconscious, bodily experiences and perceptions. At the same time, our exhibition examines the mechanisms of control, documentation and classification.

The architecture of the Riihimäki Art Museum, with its corridors, rooms and display cases, acts as the frame for the exhibition. Our work and works and objects selected from the museum collections are placed side by side, forming a spatial and multi-layered whole, an alternative mapping of what is vulnerable, exposed or forgotten in humans and the world.”

The exhibition has been supported by the Finnish Cultural Foundation.

ABOUT THE ARTISTS:

Stiina Saaristo (b. 1976 Kisko) is known for her large drawings and grotesque style. In recent years, Saaristo has also expanded her expression to ceramic sculptures. Her detailed works combine grotesque humor, self-portraiture and a keen sense of humanity. Saaristo deals with gender roles, the use of power, appearance pressures and the contradictory aspects of human nature through empathetic but ironic imagery.

Saaristo, who graduated from the Academy of Fine Arts in 2005, is particularly remembered for his extensive solo exhibitions at the Amos Anderson Art Museum (2010) and the Serlachius Museum (2025–2026). Saaristo's works are included in numerous major Finnish art collections.

Susanne Gottberg (b. 1964, Tammisaari) is known for her minimalist and recognizable painting style, in which light, silence and spatiality play a central role. Her works often deal with themes of presence, absence and the gaze through a minimal but intense visual language.

Gottberg, who graduated from the Academy of Fine Arts in 1989, has been awarded many prizes, such as the Ducat Prize of the Finnish Art Association in 1991. Gottberg was chosen as Young Artist of the Year in 1994. Also known for his public portraits, Gottberg's works are included in several significant and central Finnish public and private collections, as well as in many collections in Sweden. Gottberg has held numerous exhibitions both in Finland and abroad.

Sara Orava's (b. 1975 Helsinki) works are constructed in a slow and layered process, where the image is covered, transformed and reconstructed. Orava's production recurs to physicality, the symbolism of rituals and the relationship between a person's inner and outer world.

Orava, who graduated from the Academy of Fine Arts in 2012, has held numerous solo exhibitions in Finland and abroad (including Galleria Ama, Keravan Art Museum and Neue Galerie im Artforum, Offenburg). His works can be found in several major Finnish art museums and collections in Finland and abroad. Orava has also created stage works, most recently Medusa (Exit3-Company, Helsinki Opera Summer 2022).

Leonora Fredriksson's (b. 1967 Helsinki) main form of expression is painting. In her works, astute observations of life expand into fairy-tale vistas. Fredriksson's works are created in a time-consuming process, where each brushstroke has its purpose.

Fredriksson, who studied at the Free Art School (1986–1987), the Västra Nylands Folkhögskolan (Konstlinjen 1987–1988) and the Academy of Fine Arts (1988–1996), can be found in several public collections. Fredriksson has created public works, including for the New Children's Hospital (2018) and the Helsinki Courthouse (2004). Fredriksson has participated in numerous solo and group exhibitions.

Pamela Brandt (b. 1950 Helsinki) works in painting and drawing. Her works, in which everyday things and the sacred overlap, move in the realm of intimate observations, moods and symbolic images.

Brandt has participated in several exhibitions both in Finland and abroad. He has had solo exhibitions in, among others, many major galleries in Sweden and Norway. Recent exhibitions include exhibitions in Switzerland (Liste, Basel 2026) and France (In extenso, Clermont-Ferrand 2026). Brandt studied at the Free School of Art in 1971–1976.