The Finnish National Gallery turns a sharp lens on spirituality and artistic kinship with Arcana Borealis\u2014Northern Women and Esotericism, opening soon at the Atenium Art Museum in Helsinki. Bringing together more than 200 works by 50 artists, the exhibition focuses on how belief systems, ecology, and imagination have shaped modern and contemporary practices. Curators Dr. Nina Kokkinen and Dr. Marja Lahelma frame the presentation as a corrective to \u201cart historical narratives that have privileged the myth of the lone artistic genius,\u201d the museum says.<\/p>\n
Around 1906, Hilma af Klint was living in Stockholm, keeping a studio and delving deeply into Christian esotericism. She translated mystic visions into otherworldly paintings that art historians acknowledge as the first known abstract works in the canon, a paradigm shift previously credited to Wassily Kandinsky starting around 1910. Her approach treated painting as a vehicle for spiritual channeling rather than a purely aesthetic pursuit. The period overlapped with major scientific advances: Nikola Tesla had developed the alternating current (AC) electricity system, generated the first radio transmissions, and used them to create a remote control, while 1905 was Einstein\u2019s \u201cmiracle year\u201d with the publication of his seminal theory of relativity.<\/p>\n
Arcana Borealis places af Klint alongside peers and successors including Anna Cassel, Anna-Eva Bergman, Maja Fjaestad, Sonja Ferlov Mancoba, and contemporary artist Outi Pieski. Media range from painting and sculpture to textiles, stained glass, and video, underscoring how spiritual inquiry has coursed through many materials and methods.<\/p>\n
The exhibition emphasizes community as a catalyst. Cassel and af Klint collaborated within The Five, a Stockholm-based circle of women who pursued s\u00e9ances and meditation to explore spiritual realms. Collaboration also drives Pieski\u2019s performance \u201cGuhte gull\u00e1 \/ Here to Hear,\u201d created with dancers and choreographers Biret and G\u00e1ddj\u00e1 Haarla Pieski. Drawing on their S\u00e1mi heritage and incorporating vibrant clothing that nods to traditional garments, the work addresses trauma inflicted by state-sponsored assimilation programs and discrimination going back centuries.<\/p>\n
The title joins Latin arcana (\u201chidden knowledge\u201d) and borealis (\u201cthe north\u201d). The show \u201capproaches \u2018the North\u2019 as a cross-border cultural and imaginative space shaped by mythology and spiritual traditions,\u201d the museum says. \u201cIt traces how artists across Finland, Sweden, Denmark, Norway, Iceland, and S\u00e1pmi turned to esotericism, alternative cosmologies, meditation and mediumistic practices to explore questions of existence, creativity, and belonging.\u201d<\/p>\n
Arcana Borealis opens on October 23 and continues through February 28, 2027, in Helsinki.<\/p>\n