Finnish visual art after the Second World War was developed without influence from or contact with the West. The lack of foreign currency stopped the Finnish artists from travelling and not many exhibitions were imported from abroad. When the economy started to improve during the 1960s on the other hand, it manifested in many Western “isms” and expressions in Finnish art. The exhibition shows both these Western tendencies and a contrast to the artistic expressions of the West.

The exhibition depicts modern life in Finland, its problems and possibilities. It thus also highlights the question of art and the artist’s social responsibility and position, which was heavily debated at the end of the 60s and the beginning of the 70s. The participating artists’ works are rooted in current social questions, such as environmental destruction, the position of the working class, unemployment, women’s emancipation, the problems of consumption society, child care and the individual’s relation to the collective.

Participating artists: Eino Ahonen, Mikko Jalavisto, Leo Jokinen, Tapio Junno, Kimmo Kaivanto, Harro Koskinen, Inari Krohn, Matti Kulmala, Rauni Luikko, Ulla Rantanen, Arvo Siikamäki, Esko Tirronen and Sven-Olof Westerlund.