Overflow V Fills Kilta Gallery Ahead of Photo Centre Peri’s Exhibition Season

Following a comprehensive renovation, Kilta Gallery and Kino Kilta opened in the Firebrigade building at the Art House Turku in autumn 2024. Now, nearly two years later, a new chapter is beginning in the history of Kilta Gallery. WAM, which served as the gallery’s first operator, has moved back into its own renovated premises to prepare for the museum’s reopening.

Responsibility for Kilta Gallery will now be taken over by Photographic Centre Peri, whose exhibition programme in the new space will begin on 13 August 2026, during the Turku Night of the Arts. Before that, the gallery will be occupied throughout July by Overflow, the now-traditional group exhibition of artists who have their studios at the Art House Turku.

Heikki Räisänen

WAM Kilta Gallery Has Closed Its Doors – Warm Thanks to All Visitors

Between 2024 and 2026, WAM Kilta Gallery at the Art House Turku hosted five solo exhibitions by artists from the Turku region. The first exhibition, Jakaus by Heini Aho, opened on 15 September 2024, Turku Day. The exhibition series concluded with Alte Kameraden by Turku-based visual artist Matti Helenius, which attracted more than 6,000 visitors. Altogether, the gallery welcomed over 36,000 visitors during its nearly two years of operation.

The exhibitions at WAM Kilta Gallery were curated by Exhibition Curator Jonni Saloluoma: “The great thing about WAM Kilta Gallery was that we had the opportunity to use a completely new exhibition space in a new location for two years, allowing us to experiment and do things differently. Exhibition texts written by authors from outside the visual arts field offered fresh perspectives and became an essential part of the exhibition series. Most importantly, however, we were able to continue our exhibition programme during the museum’s renovation and showcase the work of fascinating artists from the Turku region.”

The renovated WAM Museum of Contemporary Art will reopen to the public on 31 October 2026.

July Showcases the Diverse Art of the Art House Community

Since the first summer of the Art House Turku in 2022, the Overflow group exhibition has traditionally been presented in the Main Hall on the second floor of the Factory building. As the Main Hall is undergoing renovation throughout 2026, the exhibition was initially expected to take a break this year.

However, with WAM returning to its own premises in early June and Photographic Centre Peri beginning operations at Kilta Gallery in August, an ideal window opened up for the fifth edition of the exhibition, Overflow V.

“It is wonderful that the tradition of this collective exhibition can continue and that Art House Turku´s artists will be showcased in the magnificent exhibition halls of Kilta Gallery during this transitional period. Once again, the exhibition offers a glimpse into the studios of our tenants, and visitors will have the opportunity to meet them during opening hours,” says Anna-Maija Vaimala, Production and Communications Manager at the Art House Turku.

Overflow V will once again feature works by forty artists, offering a broad spectrum of artistic practices, from sculpture and photography to media art and painting.

Photo Centre Peri Launches an Outstanding Exhibition Programme in August

According to Anna Vuoria, Executive Director of Photo Centre Peri, the move to Kilta Gallery opens significant new opportunities for both exhibition activities and audience engagement. “At Photo Centre Peri, we are truly excited about the move to Kilta Gallery. The new, high-quality exhibition spaces will enable even more diverse exhibitions and provide Peri with opportunities to develop its activities over the long term. We hope that the new premises will also attract new audiences to our exhibitions and events, as well as to our analogue darkroom and PeriLab, our digital photography production facility.”

The Kilta Gallery exhibition programme will open on the Night of the Arts on 13 August 2026 with two timely exhibitions.

Marko Karo’s exhibition, Closed System/Open Ground, explores the entanglement of ecological and societal violence and examines the fragility of social structures in a changing world.

Meanwhile, in Peri Studio, Iranian artist Elham Rahmati’s video work Questions for My Aunts presents personal and political perspectives on the hijab and challenges established Western perceptions of the position of Muslim women.

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More information:
Art House Turku
Anna-Maija Vaimala + 358 44 353 3920 anna-maija.vaimala@taiteentalo.fi