Remix the Archive

Blas.v, Nahuel Gerth, Ilmo Kapanen & Aarni Kapanen, Roni Kaufman, Arttu Koskela (Shaderism), Agoston Nagy, Newyellow (Hsing Huang), Tuomo Rainio, Andreas Rau, Jeremy Schoenherr (Jeres)

The Finnish National Gallery, in partnership with the Finnish Cultural Institute in New York and the Consulate General of Finland in New York, presents Remix The Archive, an innovative generative art exhibition at Dunkunsthalle in New York. This exhibition invites viewers to experience a groundbreaking reinterpretation of the Finnish National Gallery's vast collection of over 25,000 digital artworks, transformed through creative coding and interactive processes.

Remix The Archive showcases works by contemporary artists. These ten generative artworks utilize the Finnish National Gallery's CC0-licensed collection data, offering a digital twist on traditional techniques that explores themes such as cultural memory, portraiture, landscapes, and artistic representation.

The exhibition encourages direct engagement with the artworks through interactive "remix" buttons, allowing visitors to contribute to the creative process and experience the dynamic interplay between the digital and physical realms. Remix The Archive challenges traditional perceptions of art and invites viewers to reflect on the possibilities of generative art as an evolving medium.

"It is incredibly exciting to present the rich legacy and cultural heritage of Finland in an innovative form during New York's art week," shares Anssi Vallius, Special Adviser for Cultural Affairs and Creative Industries at the Consulate General of Finland in New York. "This exhibition beautifully demonstrates how historical art collections can connect with contemporary creativity, offering, quite literally, a dynamic interplay between past, present, and future, in the ever-evolving generations created by algorithmic codes.

The artists featured in Remix The Archive were selected through the Combine24 competition, an open generative art challenge hosted by the Finnish National Gallery and powered by Highlight. Participants were invited to create innovative generative artworks using the Finnish National Gallery's copyright-free, CC0-licensed collection data.

The competition was judged by an esteemed panel, including Luka Piškorec, computational architect and co-founder of {protocell:labs}; Diana Velasco, founder and director of MoNDA, Museum of Nordic Digital Art; Leevi Haapala, dean of the Academy of Fine Arts; Martin Grasser, generative artist and designer; and Melissa Wiederrecht, algorithmic fine artist. A shortlist committee contributed to the selection, consisting of Sofia Garcia, founder of ARTXCODE; Licia He, generative artist and human-computer interaction researcher; Joonas Toivonen, audiovisual and generative artist; Linda Dounia, artist; and Emily Xie, visual artist.

In addition to the exhibition, Remix The Archive will feature an engaging series of events, including artist talks, panel discussions, and interactive workshops. These programs will foster cross-cultural dialogue between the Finnish and American digital art communities, providing a platform for thought leaders in generative art, digital archiving, and art preservation to share insights and ideas. Additional event details will be announced soon.

The Finnish National Gallery is Finland's largest art museum organisation and a national cultural institution. The Finnish National Gallery comprises the Ateneum Art Museum, the Museum of Contemporary Art Kiasma and the Sinebrychoff Art Museum, which together boast a total attendance of more than 600,000 visitors each year. In addition to its art museums, it maintains the Finnish National Gallery collection. The collection includes almost 42,000 works of art, as well as archival materials and artefacts of art-historical significance.

The Finnish Cultural Institute in New York works across the fields of contemporary art, design and architecture, creating dialogue between Finnish and American professionals and audiences.

The Consulate General of Finland in New York promotes Finland's commercial interests, works on improving the operational conditions for the Finnish cultural agents and strengthens Finland's national brand through the means of public diplomacy. The Consulate General is also responsible for consular and entry services in New York as well as in other states, and special administrative areas that fall within the scope of the Consulate's activity. The activity scope of the Consulate General of Finland in New York covers 35 states situated on the East Coast and in the Midwest, as well as two special administrative regions (Puerto Rico and U.S. Virgin Islands).

Dunkunsthalle is an artist-run museum and project space founded by Rachel Rossin, out of a defunct Dunkin' Donuts in the Financial District. Borrowing from the museum structure of the German ‘kunsthalle,' the space mounts historic and contemporary exhibitions, as well as offering educational classes, film screenings and readings.