Internationalization is an important part of Outsider Art Festival. OAF provides a platform for international cooperation and the festival has also proven to be an interesting destination for cultural travellers in Finland. Development is carried out in program and project level cooperation with a wide international network of actors and funded by the Finnish Government, EU and cultural foundations and private funders in Finland. In 2024-2025, OAF also contributed to the strategy process of the government office Arts Promotion Center Taike for internationalization of Finnish Arts and culture. It is important that outsider artists engage in national-level strategy work and that the special characteristics of artists are taken into account also by the arts funders.
The Outsider art scene features artists, collectives and studios from different art fields, intermediaries, curators and event organizers, and of course art collectors and audiences. International cooperation is at its best a joint development work and enrichment of perspectives between artists and art organizations. The inclusive curation model developed by OAF brings together artists, members of the artistic working group and international partners every year.
This year’s international guests are invited by the artists from Ukraine and Ireland. OAF is pleased to host the family members featured in the art work Our Queer Family by the Ukrainian artists-in-residence Masha Ravlyk and Ton Melnyk of the OAF residency program. Masha and Ton wanted to connect with their own community, a family of friends torn apart by the war. The joyful reunion will be celebrated on the OAF opening weekend, when the artwork in progress will be exhibited at the artists’ home studio on the Night of the Arts (14.8.) and on Saturday 16th the artists gather in Pertin Valinta (Pertti’s Choice).
Another meaningful encounter is the Happiness project by Pertin Valinta founding member Sami Helle and his Irish colleague Fionn Agnus, exhibited in the second week of the festival. Fionn is a disabled entrepreneur and activist who travels around the world with his father to give inspiring speeches and talks with people about things that make them happy. The Happiness project highlights the dreams and aspirations of people living on the margins and encourages them to change the world for the better. During the festival, Fionn and Sami will be touring OAF events. Meet Sami and Fionn on Thursday 21.8. at the Espoo Cultural Center or follow the project in OAF social media channels.
After the festival, OAF will take over new leaps in Japan, as the ongoing world tour of Outsider Art Finland showcase events will continue in Tokyo in collaboration with Heralbony and the Finnish Cultural Institute in Japan. Heralbony is the organizer of an international outsider art competition, and one of the finalists of 2024 was artist Maima Tani from OAF’s Internationalization Program. This year, Heralbony opened a new gallery in Tokyo, Ginza, and invited Finnish artists to the exhibition. The Tokyo exhibition will feature works by Maima Tani, Kalevi Helvetti and Asano Haruka, the winner of the Heralbony competition 2024. In addition, OAF 2025 Tokyo popup will feature over 20 Finnish artists and organize film screenings and discussions related to disability entrepreneurship and employment. The popup is supported by Arts Promotion Center Finland, Saastamoinen Foundation, Frame Finland and the Finnish Cultural Foundation.
