Vernissage: A Possible Image – of what is just becoming reality

Come and celebrate the opening of the exhibition A Possible Image – of what is just becoming reality!

In the exhibition, Eija-Liisa Ahtila explores the interplay between humans and other forms of life within the ecological space, and how we can understand change. Through large-scale, immersive video installations, visitors are invited into worlds where time, perception, and the boundary between the human and the more-than-human are set in motion.

Free admission on the opening day.

Programme

11:00 The exhibition opens.

14:00 Opening ceremony: Daniel Werkmäster, Director of Uppsala Art Museum, welcomes everyone. Olli Kantanen, Ambassador of Finland to Sweden, gives the opening address. The artist Eija-Liisa Ahtila and Rebecka Wigh Abrahamsson, curator of the exhibition, will also take part.

17:00 The exhibition and museum close.

About the exhibition

The exhibition A Possible Image – of what is just becoming reality presents several newly produced video installations, alongside works from the past decade. Eija-Liisa Ahtila turns her attention to ecological connections, the experiences of other species, and humanity’s place in the world. The exhibition’s title reflects an attempt to imagine other ways of living and coexisting — in a time marked by climate change and the loss of biodiversity.

In the fifty-minute video installation Reflection of a Forest (2025), the forest emerges as a shared habitat for humans, animals, and trees — a model for how all life might take shape. Through large-scale projections and shifts between landscapes and close-ups, the work portrays nature’s cycles, vulnerability, and resilience. Micro-narratives have emerged through encounters with places in southern Finland. The work marks a return to spoken dialogue.

In April (2024), the viewer is brought close to a natural forest through light, movement, and sound in a poetic, sensory-based installation.

Potentiality for Love (2018) explores love, empathy, and connection between species, raising questions about relationships, belonging, and reciprocity. Here, visitors can explore their own emotions and the boundaries they draw between themselves and others.

About the artist

Eija-Liisa Ahtila was born in 1959 and is based in Helsinki. In the 1990s, she became an internationally recognised artist through her psychologically charged video works, which were shown at, among other institutions, MoMA in New York and Tate Modern in London, as well as twice at the Venice Biennale. Ahtila has consistently been at the forefront of experimentation with moving image and its presentation in space. Existential and everyday questions come together in poetic storytelling, sometimes incorporating elements of magical realism.

Exhibition period: 3 October 2026 – 31 January 2027

Food and drink

The Art Museum café is open until 17:00 and serves food, drinks, and snacks.

Contact

For general enquiries:
Phone: 018-727 24 82; 018-726 88 45; 018-727 25 41
Email: konstmuseum@uppsala.se

Uppsala Municipality Contact Centre
Phone: 018-727 00 00

Opening hours:
Tuesday–Wednesday: 11:00–17:00
Thursday: 11:00–21:00
Friday–Sunday: 11:00–17:00