Next Helsinki Seeks Alternative to Controversial Guggenheim Helsinki

Next Helsinki, backed by Terreform, Finnish nonprofit arts organization Checkpoint Helsinki, the Gulf Labor an offshoot of Gulf Ultra Luxury Faction (GULF) along with Occupy Museums announces a counter-competition to the official Guggenheim Helsinki competition, seeking submissions in any media across a wide range of disciplines and approaches. Jury chair Michael Sorkin states that this ethos encompasses “any representational conceit that [entrants] think is transparent to their intentions … inventive reflections on the future of Helsinki on any scale.”

The counter competition, covered in an article in Hyperallergic, represents a joining of forces between urban policy thinkers suspicious of neoliberal cultural development models, groups opposed to the Guggenheim’s Abu Dhabi outpost, and a long-standing local opposition in Helsinki seeking an institution more in line with the domestic art scene.