ºÚÁÏÍø

News

Aalto ARTS alum Vidha Saumya’s artwork featured at the Venice Biennale 2024

The Pavilion of Finland presents ‘The pleasures we choose’ at the 60th International Art Exhibition – La Biennale di Venezia until 24 November 2024.
Vidha Saumya's artwork with grotesque human figures
Vidha Saumya, Easy Blossom, 2022 (detail). Image: Vidha Saumya / Frame Contemporary Art Finland
Vidha Saumya's artwork with grotesque human figures.
Vidha Saumya,To all the barricades...the rumour got you (detail), 2024, Image: Vidha Saumya / Commercial Art Engravers Pvt. Ltd.

The pleasures we choose is a multifaceted collaboration by artists Pia Lindman, Vidha Saumya, Jenni-Juulia Wallinheimo-Heimonen, curators Yvonne Billimore and Jussi Koitela, and architectural designer Kaisa Sööt. 

The pleasures we choose blurs the boundaries between art, architecture, and social commentary, and brings together three artists for whom art, life, and activism are intertwined. Embraced as a collective project, the artwork evolved through the exchange of shared and individual experiences to create areas of diverse ‘occupancies’ where visitors are encouraged to reassess and (re)consider societal expectations.  

Out of the artist group, Vidha Saumya is an Aalto ARTS alum, who graduated from the Visual Culture and Contemporary Art (ViCCA) programme in 2018. She is also one of the founding memebers of MiF (Museum of Impossible Forms) and co-founder and co-editor of the publication NO NIIN, together with Elham Rahmati.

Often engaging with the intricate relationship between human presence and the environment, Vidha Saumya’s work challenges the norms of aesthetics, gender, academia and nation-state. In her work, viewers encounter an interplay of desire, intimacy, and (home)land, offset by the heteronormative demands of utility, time and (dis)placement.

Finnish pavillion in the Venice Biennial
The Finnish pavilion in Giardini park Venice. Photo: Ugo Carmeni

Venice Biennale, founded in 1895 and held biannually, is the oldest and most prestigious international forums for presenting contemporary art. Commissioning and producing the exhibition for the Aalto Pavilion of Finland, designed by architect Alvar Aalto in 1956, is Frame’s most extensive international project. Finland participates in two pavilions – the national Aalto Pavilion and the Nordic Pavilion – that are both located in the historical biennale park, Giardini di Castello.

Pavilion of Finland at the 60th International Art Exhibition – La Biennale di Venezia
Address: Pavilion of Finland, Giardini di Castello 30122
Exhibition dates: 20 April – 24 November 2024



 

  • Updated:
  • Published:
Share
URL copied!

Read more news

Research & Art Published:

The PDF files in the Aalto research portal are not loading

The PDF files in the ACRIS research information system’s research portal (research.aalto.fi) are currently not loading. The issue is being investigated.
Three people talk at a round table; woman holds a cup, phone nearby, tech wall behind
Research & Art Published:

How to attract employees back to the office

Return-to-office policies are popular among employers, but securing employee cooperation hinges on offering them a fair exchange in return for accepting less autonomy.
A dog and two researchers. Photo: Aalto University/Mikko Raskinen
Research & Art Published:

Assistance dogs interpret needs of the person they assist non-verbally

A recent study shows that assistance dogs not only help people with practical tasks, but also actively contribute to their care
From left: Prof. Stefan Weinzierl (TU Berlin), Prof. Johannes M. Arend (Aalto University), and Prof. Christoph Pörschmann (TH Köln) after the Lothar-Cremer Award ceremony at DAGA 2026 in Dresden, Germany.
Awards and Recognition, Research & Art Published:

Professor Johannes M. Arend from Acoustics Lab receives Lothar-Cremer Award

Professor Johannes M. Arend was honoured for his innovative and groundbreaking work in the fields of binaural technology and virtual acoustics