PORIGINAL – Open Call

Poriginal is an exhibition space run by Pori Art Museum, whose exhibitions are selected through an annual open call. The exhibitions focus on contemporary art. The call for exhibitions is open to anyone regardless of the artist’s place of residence. Next open call will be launched in April 2025.

Exhibitions are selected by members of the museum’s staff and one specially invited guest member of the jury.  

The exhibition period is 8 weeks including the days for hanging and dismantling. Hanging of the exhibition will take place from Tuesday to Thursday, with the opening on the Friday of the hanging week. Dismantling will happen on Monday after the last week of opening. Hanging and dismantling of the works must be carried out during museum opening hours or between 9am and 5pm on Mondays. 

No rent is charged for the exhibition space at Poriginal. Selected artists will be paid an exhibition fee of €500 per exhibition. Pori Art Museum is not able to cover costs of transportation or travel. The Art Museum does not curate the exhibitions but offers to facilitate curatorial discussion on the planning of exhibitions.  

Poriginal’s mode of operation is based on the premises that artist can ber fully in charge of the content and installation of the exhibition and will take care of the hanging and dismantling of the exhibition. The Art Museum will assist in every step and provide one employee to assist with the practical issues. The artist will have a free but limited number of tools and AV equipment at their disposal. Due to the fast schedule of hanging and dismantling of the Poriginal’s exhibition cycle, and in order to diminish the ecological burden of changing exhibitions, extensive structures or modification of the space are not recommended for Poriginal’s exhibition plans.   

The artist will take care of the transportation of the works and any insurance that may be required. 

The museum will be responsible for cleaning, opening and supervision of the exhibition space. 

The artist will prepare written material for the exhibition (e.g. list of works and CV). A press release will be produced in collaboration with the museum. The museum will send out an electronic exhibition invitation and announcement through its own communication channels and through the museum’s social media. 

In the event of a sale, the Art Museum will direct contacts directly to the artist or the artist’s representative and will not charge a commission on sales. 

For the year 2026, six exhibitions are available at the Poriginal Gallery. The open call for the 2025 exhibition programme is in April 2025.

Information about the Open Call announcement can be received by for instance subscribing to the Pori Art Museum’s Newsletter.