VARTIOSAARI ARTIST RY PRESENTS:  
Vartiosaari Artists House 2026 Open Studios Events / August 29th - 30th.
Saturday, August 29th 12:00 - 21:00 (last ferry at 22:00) 
Sunday, August 30th 12:00 - 19:00
Vartiosaari, (Reposalmentie 1 / ferry dock), Helsinki, FI    
The Artists house would like to warmly welcome you to celebrate the end of this beautiful summer with us on Vartiosaari. This year the location for our event has moved from the artist house to two building at the end of the allotment gardens in the center of the island.           
Along with our ongoing studio arts public workshops, performances, exhibitions, and screenings we have recently initiated a guest studio and residency program with the support of our memberships and for the 2nd year The Goethe-Institute  Helsinki, FI.
This Open Studios event will screen a special program showcasing the media art of our Summer resident Darrin Martin as well we will welcome our newest guest artist Mateusz Scibor (Warsaw, Poland), and several artists participating in this year's EUNIC: Guarding the Baltic Sea residency program. 
We will host three looping screening programs with studio members, resident artists, and global filmmakers located in the large red barn at the end of the island's allotment gardens.
This year we will open our Artist House members works in a temporary gallery showcasing experimental books, 2d - 3d works, and looping video in a variety of mediums. The exhibition will be located at the red brick house (next to the film screening barn) at the end of the island's allotment gardens. 
There will also be sculpture, fresco's and painting projects located on the exterior walls of the Artist house and adjacent spaces.
Other activities include launching an experimental 240-page catalogue showcasing science fiction images, media art, social scenes, guest artists Eric Hamilton + Karl Erickson, Open Studios from 2025, and EUNIC: Guarding the Baltic Sea residency documentation from the Artist House covering 2025-2026.
We will also have special times over the weekend socializing over a community potluck lunch where cakes and savory dishes created by members of the Artist House will be available. 
Vartiosaari Artists House is a place for artists to contemplate and to produce speculative stories, ecological research, experimental visual, media and performative projects. In 2022 Vartiosaari Artists Ry started to organize workshops and art for the public and the Open Studios will be an ongoing support event to secure the future of the Artist house.   
SATURDAY, AUGUST 29th
12:00-21:00                                                                                                Exhibition & Screenings
1:00–15:00 
OFFICIAL OPENING of the Exhibition, Catalogue launch, Screenings!
POTLUCK LUNCH & Communal welcome
Bring your food & drinks to share, we will prepare cake, soup and bread.         (donations welcome) With Jakub Bobrowksi & guests  
12:00-21:00                                                                                                         LARGE RED BARN - Three screening programs - Looped 
Speculation (Elation 14): Edging Calculations
Curated by Torsten Zenas Burns
Andrey Bogush - glass prompt (for Breughel), HD Video - 5:25  / 2025
Kristina Koskentola with Han Xiaohan
Thawing of the Frozen Rivers - Video - 24:15 / 2025
Mateusz Scibor - Morning glory - Video excerpt - 2026
Karl Erickson - Infinite choices of latent space v6 - Digital Animation - 2:34 / 2024
Dick Smith - Testing our Altered States - Video - Variable date / time
Karl Erickson - Club Walrus - Digital Animation - 5:49 / 2026
Mari keski-korsu - Walking With Permafrost More-than-Human - Video - 11:00 - 2024 
THE TRUE ELIXER: EUNIC Artists in Residence & Guests 2025-2026
Organized by Julia Lohmann & Torsten Zenas Burns  
Special thanks to EUNIC Finland / The Goethe-Institute Finland / Polish Embassy, Estonian Embassy, German Embassy, French Embassy, and the Finnish Embassy                                                                                  
Julia Lohmann & Anna van der Lei - Echoes of Undercurrents - 15:00 - 2025
Roberto Fusco - A Note by the Sea - 6:48 - 2025
Mónica Celeste - Luonnonesine - 26:00 - 2024
Mia Tamme - Võrgu Mõrsjad ja Vesised Mõrrad - 13:00 - 2025
Cyane Findji -  Amphibia - 26:50 - 2024
Rasa Weber - SymbiOcean - 11:00 - 2026
Katharina Pethke & Christoph Rohrscheidt - Guarding The Baltic Sea - Documentation - 15:00 - 2025
FUNSHINE #2                                                                                             SATURDAY MORNING RELEASE HOSTED BY WITCHIEPOO & FRIENDS!   Solo & Collaborative Vilms by Darrin Martin & Torsten Zenas Burns
Take Breath is Breath (Breathe) - 9:30 - 2021 – Darrin Martin
Generalized Hospitals: The Luke Luke & Laura Laura story...Just one more thing! 60:00 - 2025 - Darrin Martin & Torsten Zenas Burns.
FASESKIFT (3 Excerpts) - 5:30 - 2025 - Torsten Zenas Burns       
CATALOGUE LAUNCH
VARTIOSAARI(WUNNDERKAMMERNAUTICA) Episode 4, 240-Pages - 2026     Designed and curated by Torsten Zenas Burns                                                                                                 
BRICK HOUSE​​​​​​​ EXHIBITION with Participating Artists
Monika Czyżyk, Torsten Zenas Burns, Darrin Martin, to_kosie, Andrey Bogush, Julia Lohmann & Anna van der Lei, Mari keski-korsu, Mateusz Scibor,  
FUNSHINE #2                                                                                             SATURDAY MORNING RELEASE HOSTED BY WITCHIEPOO & FRIENDS!   Solo & Collaborative Vilms by Darrin Martin & Torsten Zenas Burns
THE TRUE ELIXER: EUNIC Artists in Residence & Guests 2025-2026 Organized by Julia Lohmann & Torsten Zenas Burns  
Monika Czyżyk - Special screening! 2026
Darrin Martin & Torsten Zenas Burns - Book - Generalized Hospitals - 2022
Mateusz Scibor - Morning glory (prototype) XR 2026 & Prints
to_kosie - Let the drape hang is my new series of sculptures (work in progress), emerging from years of work with fluidity and transition in the context of water. It also draws on my recent hands-on exploration of fabric manipulation—specifically, techniques that make the material spacious.
In this series, I focus on curvy, soft, and fluid forms as a way of imagining how social structures could be built—in soft ways that align with the current and realistic needs of all beings. This stands in deliberate opposition to the rigid, geometrical, patriarchal forms imposed by those in power. 
At Vartiosaari Artists Open Studios 2026 I additionally present sculptures built from ready-made felted seaweed found on the shore of the island. The seaweed became entangled with other plants and organisms, representing the never-ending transformation and interaction of species. These patterns serve as a great example for us humans to build our social word differently.
Monika Czyżyk & Torsten Zenas Burns - Print - Monstersweet - 2023
Torsten Zenas Burns - Print - DEMOFORMANCES - Variable time & date
Monika Czyżyk - Three Painting - variable size / date
OUTDOOR INSTALLATION
Location: The Artists House & The old Greenhouse exterior
Fresco wall sculptures, painting, and sculpture by Monika Czyżyk
Ant inside 3rd eye of Harman skull, 2024, Fresco
Bird Man, 2024, Fresco                                                    
Bells of Kukeri, 2024, Fresco                             
Discovering Thracian channels, 2024, Fresco
2025, Painting                                                                
2025, Sculpture
22:00 - Last ferry departs
SUNDAY, AUGUST 31ST.
PROGRAM REPEATS 12-19:00
19:00 - Last ferry departs
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