Amos Rex

A museum underneath a square

Amos Rex is immediately recognisable above ground, but most of the museum is below it. Rounded skylights rise out of Lasipalatsi Square, making the gallery roof part of the city’s outdoor landscape.

The entrance sits inside Lasipalatsi, the low functionalist building on Mannerheimintie.

That combination is the point of the place. A 1930s complex of cafés, shops, restaurants and cinema now leads into exhibition spaces designed for contemporary art.

You can appreciate the square as a piece of architecture, but it does not tell you which art is currently inside.

Old modernism and a new interior

The underground extension was designed by JKMM Architects and opened in 2018. Its roof forms the mounds visible in the courtyard, while the skylights connect the galleries back to details of Lasipalatsi above.

Notice how much of the building is organised around bringing daylight into spaces that would otherwise feel separated from the street.

Lasipalatsi’s Bio Rex cinema is part of the wider building’s history. It should not be read as another ordinary museum gallery or an automatic screening included with admission.

The museum and cinema programmes need separate attention.

Choose the exhibition, not a past photograph

Amos Rex is known for changing presentations that can transform the main spaces. Previous artists have included teamLab, Bill Viola and Ryoji Ikeda, but those names describe its history, not what a current ticket buys.

An image of an earlier immersive installation is a poor basis for booking a visit.

The next exhibition, The Other Side of the Mountain, is scheduled for 14 October 2026 to 21 March 2027. It brings together artists working in Africa and the Afro-Nordic diaspora, with sculpture, photography, moving image and other forms exploring how cities and landscapes shape human connections.

Look for the materials of movement

The forthcoming programme connects urban space with histories of movement and trade. Loulou Cherinet examines Helsinki’s changing cityscape, while Ibrahim Mahama works with materials tied to migration and colonial commerce.

Jeannette Ehlers’s neon work is planned for the window facing Mannerheimintie, extending the exhibition’s presence onto the street.

These are specific reasons to see this exhibition rather than expecting a general spectacle. The works approach the city as a place shaped by power, language and memory, and the artists do not all use the same medium or perspective.

Make time for a quieter room

The Frosterus Hall offers a different register: early twentieth-century painting from Sigurd Frosterus’s collection. Magnus Enckell and Alfred William Finch are particularly well represented, alongside artists including Sigrid Schauman and Paul Signac.

Its emphasis on colour gives you a useful comparison with the larger temporary presentation. Treat it as a distinct room worth looking for, rather than assuming all of Amos Rex is one installation.

The whole museum closes between major exhibitions, so the dated closure notice takes precedence over the usual weekly timetable.