The Contamination of Time
13.6.2026 - 9.1.2027
Curated by Erich Berger
The Contamination of Time displays works that tell stories of distant stars, the slow formation of landscapes and the inevitable end of life in a deep future. In The Contamination of Time, you are invited to embark on a journey that unsettles familiar notions of time. At the heart of the exhibition lies the acknowledgment that the future is not a distant, fixed horizon but shaped in and by the present. What is to come is always already contaminated by what is at hand.
The artworks within The Contamination of Time remind us that we inhabit a world shaped not only by geological, ecological, and cosmic forces, but also by our own decisions, behaviour, and imaginaries. They call for attentiveness to time and our capacity to respond. The exhibition encourages visitors to reflect on how their actions are entangled with time and their environment, and to recognize their agency in shaping futures. If we can imagine countless catastrophes and the end of the world, why shouldn’t we also imagine a world we wish to live in?
artists:
Petri Ala-Maunus (FI), Laura Beloff (FI), Andy Gracie (UK/ES), Katri Naukkarinen (FI) and Aurora Del Rio (IT), Elsa Salonen (FI), Emilia Tikka, Leena and Oula A. Valkeapää (FI)
Elsa Salonen (FI) lives and works in Berlin, Germany
Elsa Salonen’s practice draws on the traditions of painting, installation, and conceptual art. The works are marked by the artistic interpretation of alchemy, which explores the universe through natural materials, and animism, especially the Finnish nature worship. She has graduated from the Fine Arts Academy of Bologna, Italy, and has since worked mainly in Berlin. Salonen’s art has been exhibited internationally with institutions including, KINDL Centre For Contemporary Art and Villa Merkel in Germany; Art Sonje Center in South Korea; Kunsthal Aarhus and Kunsthal Viborg in Denmark; Galleri F 15 in Norway and Miguel Urrutia Art Museum in Colombia. Salonen is represented by Galerie Jochen Hempel in Germany, Le Clézio Gallery in France and China and Ama Gallery in Finland.
