Following a 14-month redevelopment, Helsinki Art Museum reopens with an exhibition by the Chinese artist – part of a wider plan to make the city a design destination

The Helsinki Art Museum has reopened with an exhibition by influential Chinese artist Ai Weiwei, following a year of renovation that has seen gallery space more than double.

Inside the 1930s Tennis Palace, a culture and shopping space in the city’s downtown area, the museum holds over 9,000 works of art and is one of the most popular cultural attractions in the city. The renovation work extended the museum into the glass-domed gallery on the second floor of the building, increasing the public and exhibition space to 3,000 square metres.

The Weiwei exhibition includes two previously unseen new works: White House, reusing an entire residential house from the Qing dynasty as a comment on China’s urbanisation, and Garbage Container, a work based on the tragic story of five homeless boys from China’s Guizhou province who died of carbon monoxide poisoning.

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The renovation is part of the plan to create a museum district in the city and is the first of a number of major openings expected in Helsinki in the next few years. Ritva Viljanen, deputy mayor of Helsinki, said she hopes investment in the arts in Helsinki will encourage visitors from across Europe to visit the city.

“The three most important things for Helsinki are contemporary art, modern design and urban city culture,” she said. “This is our profile, this is something unique that’s happening in Helsinki.”

Construction has begun on a large new Central Library opposite the city’s parliament which is due to open in December 2018. The eco-efficient library will be “masterpiece of timber construction”, according to ALA Architects in charge of the project.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Interior of the renovated gallery space.

Also in 2018, there will be a second venue for the Amos Anderson Art Museum. The new exhibition space will be entirely underground, in a hi-tech space beneath Lasipalatsi Square that can be remodelled to accommodate different kinds of installations.

“The new museum will serve as a catalyst for new developments in visual culture,” said museum director Kai Kartio. “It will offer the ideal venue for experimental and technology-based modern pieces.”

Helsinki, which has the highest per capita concentration of artists of any city in Europe, is also hoping it will become home to a new Guggenheim museum. This July a proposal by the Paris-based Moreau Kusunoki Architectes was selected as the winning design should sufficient funds be raised for the museum to go ahead.

Ari Lahti, chairman of the Guggenheim Helsinki Supporting Foundation said: “It would strengthen our status as a design capital to convert a car park into a beautiful gathering place, and to provide cultural and intellectual opportunities for virtually all members of society.”