Sculptor Edith Karlson creates in Kiasma a world inhabited not only by humans and animals but also by mythical creatures. We warmly invite you to explore the exhibition in advance on Thursday, 16 April 2026. Please register at:
kiira.koskela@kiasma.fi
Edith Karlson, “March!”, exhibition view, 2025, Sapieha Palace, Vilnius. Photo: Andrej Vasilenko
The Museum of Contemporary Art Kiasma in Helsinki is proud to present a comprehensive solo exhibition by Estonian sculptor Edith Karlson. This is the artist’s most extensive museum solo exhibition abroad to date, featuring both entirely new works created specifically
for the show as well as selected earlier pieces.
Members of the media are welcome to visit the exhibition between 10:00 and 12:00. The artist and the curator will be present from 11:00 onwards.
Registration and additional information: Communications Officer Kiira Koskela,
kiira.koskela@kiasma.fi, +358 50 4786 861
Arrival: The doors of the museum open at 10:00. The address is Mannerheiminaukio 2, 00100 Helsinki, Finland.
About the exhibition
Sculptor Edith Karlson transforms the large gallery on Kiasma’s top floor into a world inhabited by humans, animals, and mythical creatures. Visitors weave through sculptural groups as the lighting shifts from warm artificial yellow to natural daylight. In
the exhibition, viewers encounter four‑metre-tall giants, a skeleton arching across the hall, and an army riding toward its inevitable fate. Birds and other animals stare back in silence. Mermaids resting by a well have emerged from the water to witness what
humans have done to the sea and the land.
Karlson employs a diverse range of materials, including clay, concrete, and silicone, creating works that often retain a raw, unfinished quality. For her, mythical characters are a way to explore questions that reason alone cannot answer. Prehistory, fossils,
and archaeology also offer enduring inspiration. Humans and animals are linked by instinct, a tenacious will to survive, and the ability to adapt—recurring themes in her practice.
Karlson (b. 1983) lives and works in Tallinn. She has exhibited widely in Estonia and internationally, most recently at the Sapieha Palace Contemporary Art Centre in Vilnius (2025), the Contemporary Art Museum of Estonia (2021), the Estonian Art Museum KUMU
(2019–2020), and the Museum der bildenden Künste Leipzig (2018). She represented Estonia at the 2024 Venice Biennale.
Edith Karlson: Dawn till Dawn, 17.4.–27.9.2026, Kiasma
