Kaija Hinkula at Ama Gallery / Helsinki

Artist(s): Kaija Hinkula
Art space: Ama Gallery
Address: Rikhardinkatu 1, 00130 Helsinki, Finland
Duration: 14/08/2026 - 06/09/2026
Credits: Janette Holmström & Kaija Hinkula
Kaija Hinkula, You Are Here, exhibition view, Ama Gallery, Helsinki FI 2026 Photo: Janette Holmström
Kaija Hinkula, The whole becomes clear only if you look closely enough, Ama Gallery, Helsinki FI 2026 Photo: Janette Holmström
Kaija Hinkula, Interstellar, Ama Gallery, Helsinki FI 2026 Photo: Janette Holmström
Kaija Hinkula, Interstellar (detail), Ama Gallery, Helsinki FI 2026
Kaija Hinkula, You Are Here, exhibition view, Ama Gallery, Helsinki FI 2026 Photo: Janette Holmström
Kaija Hinkula, You Are Here, exhibition view, Ama Gallery, Helsinki FI 2026 Photo: Janette Holmström
Kaija Hinkula, The atmosphere is dense, porous, Ama Gallery, Helsinki FI 2026
Kaija Hinkula, You Are Here, exhibition view, Ama Gallery, Helsinki FI 2026 Photo: Janette Holmström
Kaija Hinkula, Between metro station, always something else than now, Ama Gallery, Helsinki FI 2026
Kaija Hinkula, Backpacker (detail), Ama Gallery, Helsinki FI 2026
Kaija Hinkula, The Path, Ama Gallery, Helsinki FI 2026
Kaija Hinkula, You Are Here, exhibition view, Ama Gallery, Helsinki FI 2026 Photo: Janette Holmström
Kaija Hinkula, You Are Here, exhibition view, Ama Gallery, Helsinki FI 2026 Photo: Janette Holmström
Kaija Hinkula, You Are Here, exhibition view, Ama Gallery, Helsinki FI 2026 Photo: Janette Holmström
Kaija Hinkula, My tent is light model and travels with me, Ama Gallery, Helsinki FI 2026 Photo: Janette Holmström
Kaija Hinkula, Contour lines, Ama Gallery, Helsinki FI 2026 Photo: Janette Holmström
Minna Mikkonen & Kaija Hinkula, You are here, Ama Gallery, Helsinki FI 2026 Photo: Janette Holmström
Minna Mikkonen & Kaija Hinkula, You are here, Ama Gallery, Helsinki FI 2026 Photo: Janette Holmström
Kaija Hinkula, You Are Here, exhibition view, Ama Gallery, Helsinki FI 2026 Photo: Janette Holmström

You Are Here is visual artist Kaija Hinkula’s new solo exhibition at Ama Gallery. The exhibition is built around imaginary guide signs and systems of navigation, using them as points of departure for works that explore structures designed to measure, direct, and organise the world—yet gradually begin to take on a life of their own. Their geometric language becomes an open field of experimentation, where routes and connections are continually rearranged. How do we navigate a world in which the existing order grows uncertain and familiar coordinates seem to shift beneath our feet?

This new body of work continues Hinkula’s ongoing exploration of malleable geometry and the metaphorical structures of painting. Here, the symbol of the map or the directional sign no longer functions as a tool for orientation but as a speculative structure whose logic can be bent, dismantled, and reconstructed. These markers no longer lead us straightforwardly from one place to another; instead, they misdirect, delay, and open up alternative routes. The exhibition approaches orientation as both a physical and a symbolic question. The space created by the works invites viewers to linger in a state of disorientation and to imagine new ways of locating themselves in a world where position and the world order is not fixed but constantly renegotiated.

The exhibition is featured by writer Minna Mikkonen. Mikkonen’s texts open up parallel perspectives on place, navigation, and the act of locating oneself. They form an alternative cartography—a linguistic landscape where words intersect, diverge, and discover new connections.

The show creates a space where getting lost is not an exception but a way of thinking. When familiar signs cease to function, disorientation can become the condition for new ways of thinking.

Kaija Hinkula works in the expanded field of painting, creating sculptural paintings, installations, and site-specific works. She graduated with an MFA from the Academy of Fine Arts, University of the Arts Helsinki, in 2021. Her solo exhibitions include Pragovka Gallery in Prague, HAM Gallery and Forum Box in Helsinki, and Oulu Art Museum. Her work has been exhibited in group exhibitions across Finland as well as elsewhere in Europe, Asia, and the United States. In 2025, Hinkula was an artist-in-residence at the International Studio & Curatorial Program (ISCP) in New York, supported by the Saastamoinen Foundation and the Academy of Fine Arts, University of the Arts Helsinki.  In the same year, she received the shared Fine Arts Academy of Finland Foundation Prize. The exhibition and the artistic work have been supported by the Arts Promotion Centre Finland.