The inaugural Helsinki Biennial, the Same Sea, an international contemporary art event originally scheduled to start June 12, has been postponed for a year to June 12 to Sept. 26, 2021, because of Covid-19.
The festival will refocus its energies toward next year for its first edition, while retaining its maritime locations across the island of Vallisaari as well as on Helsinki's mainland.
The postponement will enable all 40 participating international artists to realize their artworks in full, according to Jan Vapaavuori, the mayor of Helsinki, who added that the new date "is a way the biennial can ... receive the international engagement it deserves."
"Helsinki is a global city full of events," he said, "and we are doing our best now to predict how the coronavirus pandemic will influence the travel, event and creative industries."
The director of the Helsinki Biennial and the Helsinki Art Museum, Maija Tanninen-Mattila added: "Museums now have the possibility to discuss new ways of producing art events as well as the services and the user experiences linked to them. The appetite for virtual and digital interaction is now larger than ever, and we will take this into consideration when planning the biennial for 2021."