Participation in Kuvan Kevät MFA exhibition

Published 30.5.2023 | Updated 6.11.2024

Kuvan Kevät – MFA exhibition presents artworks of students who are finalizing their master’s degree. The big group exhibition features participants from all teaching areas: painting, sculpture, printmaking and time and space arts. The exhibition takes place in Kuva/Tila as well as other spaces in the Mylly building. 

Exhibition staff

Many members of the staff of the Academy of Fine Arts work on the exhibition: academic staff, the annually selected coordinating teacher, study services, exhibition services and communications. A Production Intern will also assist the team during the spring.

Participating in the exhibition

The timing of your participation in the Kuvan Kevät exhibition must always be agreed with the professor in your teaching area and confirmed by the end of the semester prior to the exhibition.

Signing up for the exhibition is done through a separate form during October-November. Students will be informed about this via e-mail. 

Terms of participating in Kuvan Kevät

Students are eligible to participate in Kuvan Kevät according to their year. The seminar for the artistic work of the thesis is usually started at the beginning of the autumn semester preceding the participation.

Postponing participation is possible only if the student has been absent for legally valid reasons (i.e. in military or civilian service or on maternity, paternity or parent leave), for prolonged periods because of illness or for other reasons for the duration of a whole academic year. The postponement must be requested before the end of the semester preceding the exhibition.

Other public presentation and Kuvan Kevät

Participating in Kuvan Kevät is voluntary and the artistic part or parts of the thesis may be presented publicly elsewhere or in other ways. The public presentation of the thesis must take place either before or in the same spring semester as the Kuvan Kevät would take place, according to the student’s study path. 

If the public presentation of the thesis takes place outside the Academy of Fine Arts’ exhibition facilities, the student is not entitled to use the Academy of Fine Arts’ production services or equipment for the presentation.

Thesis grant

The Academy of Fine Arts supports the completion of Master’s thesis with a thesis grant, which is intended to cover the costs of the artistic part of the thesis. The thesis grant may not be used for general living expenses. The student is eligible to receive thesis grant after submitting a thesis plan and having it approved by a professor.  Master’s thesis scholarships will be open for applications in November-December, and those who have submitted a thesis plan will be notified separately via e-mail. The grant is paid to the student’s bank account at the end of the year.

Exhibition process

Here you will find the recurring core information of the Kuvan Kevät exhibition process – more detailed information will be sent to you via email at the beginning of the autumn preceding the exhibition.

Joint meetings

Two joint meetings will be organised for participants in the Kuvan Kevät, one immediately after the end of registration in November and the other in January. Please be prepared for the second meeting to briefly talk about your work(s) for the exhibition.

Book a studio visit to discuss your plans

Book a studio visit with coordinating teacher of the exhibition and prepare to discuss your preliminary project plans. The coordinating teacher is responsible for the exhibition architecture.

Participating in the exhibition requires studio visits with the coordinating teacher of the exhibition.

Work on your project

Keep your supervisors, professor of your subject area and the coordinating teacher updated about your project and any possible changes in your plans. If you’re working on a large piece or an installation that requires specific technical support, be in touch with the Exhibition Technician early on.

Exhibition text, images, biography and cv

Be prepared for exhibition materials to be delivered as early as January/February. You will receive more detailed instructions closer to the date. Due to the different stages of the catalogue process (proofreading, translation, reviewing, layout design), the delivery of the materials will already take place early in the year. In addition to the catalogue, the texts and images will be published on the Kuvan Kevät website.

Kuvan Kevät portraits

Portraits will be taken of the participants of the Kuvan Kevät exhibition. You will receive a separate link for booking. You will also get the photo for yourself.

Submit artwork details

Artwork details will be available for visitors to read in printed artwork lists as well as labels in the exhibition space. There is a separate list including prices in the attendant’s folder. The details must be submitted before the opening, during installation. You are responsible for providing the producer with up-to-date details of your work on time.

Exhibition installation

You will receive more a detailed schedule and installation instructions closer to the start of the installation. You are in charge of the realisation and installation of your work. If necessary, assistance is available from technical staff.

Regarding content-wise questions, turn to your supervisor, the professor and lecturers of your subject area or the coordinating teacher of the exhibition. The exhibition technician will help you with technical issues.

During the exhibition

Kuvan Kevät is held annually in May.

The exhibition is open Tue-Sun from 11am to 6pm and the participating students act as exhibition attendants. Being an exhibition attendant is a good opportunity to connect with the audience and verbalize your work. The attending shifts will be distributed between the participants, with each participant covering 2–3 shifts. Instructions on booking your shifts will be sent to you closer to the exhibition.

Remember to invite your examiners to see your artwork.

A seminar will be organized in conjunction with the exhibition, mandatory to all participants. In the seminar, you will get feedback from the professors of the subject areas and professionals they’ve invited as their guests.

If you’re planning on arranging performances and other events during the exhibition, be in contact with the coordinating teacher and the producer. If the events take place outside the exhibition opening hours, discuss your plans with the producer well in advance.

During the exhibition there will be various guided tours for the audience. Students will also have the opportunity to act as guides during the exhibition. If you are interested in leading a tour, please contact the producer.

The Academy of Fine Arts documents all its exhibitions for communication and teaching needs. If you want to document your own work, do it before the end of the exhibition. Please note that the written component of the thesis project must include sufficient visual documentation of the artistic component. A camera set will be organized for you to loan to document your work. The equipment can’t be taken out school premises and the files must be moved to your own device immediately, so other students may use the camera set as well.

Deinstallation

You are responsible for deinstalling, packing and transportation of your works as well as delivering the possible sold works to clients. Work requiring technical assistance, such as the use of lifts, will only be carried out in the presence of technical staff.