General Info

The Nordic Institute for Contemporary Art (NIFCA) is a multifaceted institution that aims to be a catalyst in the ongoing processes of contemporary Nordic visual culture through cooperation, process and network development.

Aiming to strengthen the potential and critical aspects of Nordic visual culture regionally and internationally, NIFCA combines process, production and theory within a Nordic and international arena. The three key means for working are mediation, mobility and communication.


Our vision:

NIFCA wishes to explore the artistic, aesthetic, cultural and socio-political contexts that form our contemporary society. NIFCA seeks to continuously develop spaces for reflection and discussion about these contexts and their content, combining theory and practice in the short- and long term.

NIFCA aspires to encourage and create new and diverse networks and to create processes and synergies between diverse agents within a broad field of visual culture.

NIFCA seeks to develop new methods for exhibition- and curatorial practices together with experimental agents in the fields of contemporary visual culture. By being a central player in the development of such practices, NIFCA aims to establish collaborative methods which will be visible and can be shared with the Nordic and international art arenas.


Our methods:

Dialogue and interaction are crucial to achieving our goals; by for example bringing emerging movements to a level of visibility and social debate.

NIFCA is active in creating new forms for critical discourse and developing these. The aim is to participate in discussions about visual culture that are taking place in the Nordic countries as an active and equal participant, as well as open other ground for critical discourse globally and locally. This work includes exhibitions, seminars, platforms, networks, workshops, residencies and publications.

NIFCA initiates projects and collaborates with partners in the field of visual culture based on external proposals.

NIFCA, Nordic Institute for Contemporary Art, is the Nordic Council of Ministers’ expert organ for visual culture; visual arts, architecture and design. NIFCA is funded by the Nordic Council of Ministers, the body responsible for co-operation between the governments of Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, Sweden, and the autonomous territories Faroe Islands, Greenland, and Åland.


The NIFCA office was located 1997-2006 at:

NIFCA - Nordic Institute for Contemporary Art
Suomenlinna B 28, FI-00190 Helsinki, Finland



NIFCA, the Nordic Institute for Contemporary Art, is funded by the Nordic Council of Ministers, the body responsible for co-operation between the governments of Denmark, Finland, the Faroe Islands, Greenland, Iceland, Norway, Sweden and Åland.

NIFCA is located in Helsinki as an institution under Finnish Law, and it operates in the Nordic countries and internationally.

NIFCA's legal status is described in the Ordinary Statutes of the Nordic Council of Ministers.

NIFCA's board is appointed by the Nordic Ministers of Culture and the Nordic Council of Ministers for a period of three years, with the possibility of prolongation.


Nordic Council of Ministers