FORCE
Nordic Niceness?
Public Art Beyond Consensus
Hanaholmen/Finland, Fri 4 December at 09:00
Nordic Niceness? Public Art Beyond Consensus asks what happens when art refuses to be “nice”. Bringing together artists, academics and cultural actors from across the Nordics, the conference explores public art as a site of negotiation, contestation and belonging. Through discussions on representation, access and power, it examines whose stories shape the Nordic narrative and which voices remain at its margins. At a time of growing political polarization and social division, the conference considers the role of public art in creating space for friction and dialogue.
4 December 2026
Hanaholmen, Espoo, Finland
Program:
Venue: Celsius
9:00-15:15 Finnish time (EET, UTC+2)
The conference will be livestreamed.
09.00 Registration and Coffee
09.30
Performance
Jessie Kleemann, Artist
Welcome
Kristine K. Wessel, Curator and Project Manager, FORCE/Mesén
Gunvor Kronman, CEO, Hanaholmen – Swedish-Finnish Cultural Centre
Opening of the Conference: Artistic Freedom in Challenging Times
Minna Karvonen, Director General of the Finnish National Gallery
10.05 Session 1: Nordic Niceness? A contradiction in terms
Presentation: Nordic Niceness? Culture, Conflict and Coexistence Beyond Consensus
Cindy Horst, Research Professor, Peace Research Institute Oslo
Presentation
Jessie Kleemann, Artist
10.35 Coffee Break
11:05 Session 2: Art Across Periphery and Power
Presentation
Outi Pieski, Artist
Presentation: We here, We won't disappear
Damien Ajavon, Artist
Presentation: Geopolitical realities in the Arctic: Threats on contemporary art and cross-border cooperation
Evgeny Goman, Pikene på Broen
Presentation: Institutional Niceness?
Taru Tappola, Head of Public Art, HAM – Helsinki Art Museum
Panel Discussion moderated by Merete Hovdenak, Director, Contemporary Art Centres in Norway
Outi Pieski, Evgeny Goman, Taru Tappola, and Damien Ajavon
12:35 Lunch
13.25 Session 3: Public Art Beyond Consensus
Performance
Aizhan Sultan, Artist
Presentation
Giovanna Esposito Yussif, Artistic Director, Museum of Impossible Forms
Presentation
Juha Huuskonen, CEO, FRAME
Presentation: Can Public Art be Free within the Military and Carceral System?
Oscar Svanelid, Postdoctoral Researcher in Art History, Södertörn University in Stockholm
Panel discussion
Cindy Horst, Juha Huuskonen, Giovanna Esposito Yussif and Oscar Svanelid
14.45 Stepping Stone to Iceland
Sabina Westerholm, Director, The Nordic House
Kolbrún Ýr Einarsdóttir, Head of PR & Communication, The Nordic House
14.55 Thank you and Farewell
The auditorium (Celsius) is located on the second floor and is accessible by lift. Most of Hanaholmen’s public facilities are well-suited to visitors with reduced mobility.
Read more: hanaholmen.fi
The event is organised by FORCE (Freedom, Open-Dialogue, Resilience, Collaboration, and Empowerment), a platform aimed at strengthening support for artists, with a focus on those working in public spaces, in collaboration with Hanaholmen – the Swedish-Finnish Cultural Centre and The Finnish-Norwegian Cultural Institute.
The event in Hanaholmen is the second gathering in a series that started in Oslo in spring 2026. The third conference will take place in Reykjavik in 2027.
The conference programme has been developed by a programme committee comprising KORO – Public Art Norway, Contemporary Art Centres Norway, the Saami Council, The Finnish Arts and Culture Agency (KUVI), Hanaholmen, and the Finnish-Norwegian Cultural Institute. The committee's work has been led and coordinated by Mesén.
The conference is supported by Nordic Culture Fund, The Swedish Cultural Foundation in Finland, Eckbos legat and Fritt Ord.
Through knowledge sharing, case studies, and conversations, we will explore how artists and actors in the art field navigate a public sphere marked by increased polarization and growing pressure on freedom of expression. The conference will serve as a meeting place to identify shared challenges and strategies, and to explore and discuss experiences and practices from across the Nordic region.
We ask which forces are attempting to limit freedom of expression, and which methods we have to strengthen it in response. To what extent are artists today affected by harassment, censorship, and self-censorship? What support, trust, and frameworks do artists need to work freely in public spaces? What challenges arise at the moment when an artwork is realized and encounters audiences, media, and public debate? Can controversy and engagement around public art help strengthen freedom of expression, and why do we so often fail to turn conflict into constructive dialogue?
The conference aims to facilitate the exchange of experiences and shared reflection across the Nordic region, and marks the beginning of a series of conferences that will build on the insights and issues raised here.
FORCE
Voice in Public Art is part of the initiative FORCE – a platform for artistic freedom of expression and democratic dialogue. FORCE aims to bring together participants from across the Nordic region for a current, interdisciplinary discussion on the role of art in the public sphere, and to serve as a platform for strengthening preparedness for artists working in public spaces.