Spirituality

A Helsinki exhibition traces women's art and esotericism across the North

Arcana Borealis is on view at Helsinki's Ateneum Art Museum, bringing together art by women who engaged with spirituality and esotericism across the Nordic region and Sápmi, TLmag reports. According to TLmag, the exhibition spans the late 19th century to the present day and includes painting, sculpture, textiles, stained glass and mosaic.

Co-curators Marja Lahelma and Nina Kokkinen told TLmag that the project grew from a proposal prompted by a recently rediscovered body of work by artist Meri Genetz. Their exhibition also examines women's artistic networks and alternative systems of knowledge.

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The exhibition looks beyond individual artists#

The title combines Latin terms for hidden knowledge and the North, the curators told VEIN Magazine. They said the exhibition approaches esotericism, a broad group of ideas and movements distinct from orthodox Abrahamic religion and Enlightenment rationalism, through current academic research.

Lahelma told Euronews that accounts of modern art's connections with esotericism, occultism and magic have often centered on prominent male artists. The exhibition instead focuses on women and draws attention to community and collaboration, she said.

VEIN Magazine reports that renewed attention to Hilma af Klint has helped bring the relationship between women artists and esotericism back into focus. The exhibition places that relationship in a wider group of artists, including Anna Cassel, Genetz, Laila Pullinen and Ellen Thesleff.

Craft and research shape the show#

The works use materials associated with both fine art and craft, Euronews reports, including ceramics, metal engravings and textiles. Kokkinen told the outlet that the exhibition considers how distinctions between art and spirituality, objects and processes, and individual and collective work can blur.

Euronews describes Sámi duodji as a traditional craft practice that brings together spirituality, knowledge passed between generations and values connected to nature. The outlet also notes that handicraft can carry skills and traditions from one woman to another.

Kokkinen and Lahelma told TLmag that the research project preceding the exhibition began in 2022. Kokkinen had proposed the show to the Finnish National Gallery while the museum was already planning a project on northern women artists. Arcana Borealis remains on view through February 28, 2027.

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