KUOPIO.- ANTI – Contemporary Art Festival will take place for the 25th time in Kuopio, Finland on September 15–20, 2026.

From the very beginning, participating in the ANTI Festival has been an experience that revolutionises one’s thinking and understanding of the arts and the world. The anniversary programme explores alternative ways of seeing and presenting, and highlights perspectives on the festival’s history, the present, and the future.

“In addition to the anniversary year, the programming has been driven by the festival’s ongoing desire to envision queer feminist futures in collaboration with artists. Onur Tayranoǧlu (Turkey), Julischka Stengele (Austria), and Keioui Keijaun Thomas (United States) all deconstruct, in their own ways, the illusions and assumptions of melancholy associated with queer lives, and build spaces for recovery and social transformation”, Lead Curator Elisa Itkonen writes.

To celebrate the 25th anniversary, we have put together a diverse programme of artistic and discursive events. It includes, for example, an installation and a typographic poster series by the festival’s long-term graphic designer, artist Tomi Leppänen (Finland), as well as the ANTI 25 podcast series and discussion events. We will also revisit the venues and works of past ANTI Festivals through lecture performances by Kira O’Reilly (Ireland) and Tuomas Laitinen (Finland).

The ANTI Festival programme presents live art works by international and Finland based artists in various different locations across the city of Kuopio. All events are free of charge for the audiences. For the first time, we have also opened up the festival week to a partner programme, and ANTI itself is part of the Kuopio Art Weeks.

During the summer, the festival programme will be complemented. The daily schedule and bookings (required to some of the performances) for the festival will be published in August.