45TH ANNUAL EXHIBITION OF UFAA
PRESS RELEASE
The exhibition of the Union of Finnish Art Associations is now being held for the 45th time, and this year the venue is the Pori Art Museum. UFAA was founded in 1938 as an association of local visual arts organisations. It was initiated by the Vyborg Artists’ Association and its then chairman Viljo Kojo. The first president of the association was the painter William Lönnberg. Today, the association has 47 member organisations. These have a total membership of about 2600.
It aims to safeguard the interests of the entire national artistic community and to eliminate the regional disparities in the income and working opportunities of artists living in different parts of the country, as well as in the presentation of art and the provision of visual arts services in different regions.
The Association’s affairs are managed by a Board of Directors elected by the Annual General Meeting and consisting of a President and 16 members. The day-to-day running of the Association is managed by a Bureau. Antti Lampisuo, a painter, is the current chairman.
In 1977, the Association moved into its long-planned permanent premises. The Voipaala Art Centre in Valkeakoski is the result of a cooperation agreement between the City of Valkeakoski and the Association.
Exhibitions have always played a central role in the association’s activities. Already in the year of its foundation, art exhibitions were organised in the art museums of Vyborg and Turku. After the interruptions caused by the wars, the exhibition activities continued in 1948 and 1949, when a large joint exhibition was held in Helsinki. Since 1951, the Association’s annual exhibitions have been held annually, with the aim of locating them in different parts of the country, taking into account regional considerations and the distribution of art services. During this period, exhibition space has improved dramatically. New art museums have been built all over Finland. The last annual exhibition of the Federation was held in Pori in 1975, and before that in 1954. In 1984 the annual exhibition will be held in Helsinki.
A total of 1135 works by 311 artists were offered for this exhibition. The jury selected a total of 251 works by 143 artists, including 135 paintings and collages, 87 prints and drawings and 29 sculptures. The works represent a wide range of expressions and styles. Expressionism, constructivism, naivism, etc. can be found.
The jury was chaired by Matti Mikkola from Oulu, Raimo Aarras from Uusikaupunki, Sakari Alanen from Helsinki representing the Association of Painters, Elina Hakaniemi from Vaasa representing the Association of Graphic Artists and Veikko Nuutinen from Helsinki representing the Association of Sculptors.
Translated with DeepL