***Let us Stay for a While is now part of the catalogue 2025 of rencontres internationales paris/berlin new cinema and contemporary art***
Paula Saraste (b.1981) is a visual artist who works with film, photography and performance. The themes of her works are often related
to the relationship between the past and the present as well as fear and identity, and they talk about broader questions beyond their
psychological level. She received her MfA Degree from the Finnish Academy of Fine Arts in 2016. She has had and taken part in
exhibitions in i.e. gallery Myymälä2 (2022) and Forum Box (2021) in Helsinki and Galerie Heike Arndt / Inselgalerie in Berlin (2022).
Other recent exhibitions include Paraika | Six Works in Ballhaus Rixdorf Studios in Berlin (2022) and Vast Distances, Galleria Becker,
Jyväskylä (2023).
paula.saraste@gmail.com
+358 503450624
CV
Education
2016 MFA, Finnish Academy of Fine Arts, time and space
2007 MA, University of Helsinki, Germanic philology and Nordic languages
2002 Vocational training as a classical ballet dancer, Finnish National Opera Ballett School
2000 Matriculation Examination, Sibelius-lukio Upper Secondary School
Solo and Joint Exhibitions
2024 Let us Stay for a While, Galleria Uusi Kipinä, Lahti, Finland
2024 Let us Stay for a While, Pimento, Oulu, Finland
2023 Vast Distances, Galleria Becker, Jyväskylä, Finland
2022 Let us Stay for a While, Myymälä2, Helsinki
2020 All things, passing, Photographic Gallery Hippolyte Studio, Helsinki
2018 Haunt, HilbertRaum, Berlin
2017 Rohto / Remedy, Galleria Uusi Kipinä, Lahti, Finland
2017 Transitions, Galleria Huuto, Helsinki
2015 Oh John!, Galerie Pleiku, Berlin
2015 Kemal Can+Sara Kovamäki+Paula Saraste, Exhibition Laboratory Project Room, Helsinki
2015 Media Ambages, HilbertRaum, Berlin
2014 Oh John!, pop-up gallery Ballhaus Rixdorf, Berlin
Group Exhibitions and Performances (Selection)
2024 EVERYONE BUT CASPAR!, Künstlerhaus Sootbörn, Kunsthalle Niendorf, Hamburg
2023 Fringe Arts Bath Festival, Bath, UK
2022 Sivuttain / Sidlänges, Makers’ Gallery, Vaasa, Finland
2022 Fresh Legs, Inselgalerie / Galerie Heike Arndt DK, Berlin
2022 Din A [<] Exhibition Project, Leipzig
2021 Fragmentteja tuntemattoman ääreltä / Fragments from the Unknown, gallery Forum Box, Helsinki
2020 Performing in Sara Kovamäki’s Joy of Nude Life Blue performance installation, Liikelaituri, Tampere, Finland
2019 Performance Du warst meine große Liebe, performance happening Nude Magic Blue, Kulttuuritalo Laikku, Tampere, Finland
2017 Performances with Sara Kovamäki in gallery Uusi Kipinä, Lahti, Finland
2017 Varasto, Galleria Lapinlahti, Helsinki
2016 Virus, Galleria Lapinlahti, Helsinki
2016 Save Our Souls, 9th Ewha international Media Art Presentation, curated by Pontus Kyander, Seoul, South Korea
2015 Performance Kris & Mat: Visible silence. What is to be done?, project curated by Barbara Vanderlinden, Exhibition Laboratory, Helsinki
2014 Kuvan Kevät 2014, curated by Maaretta Jaukkuri, Gallery of the Finnish Academy of Fine Arts, Helsinki
2014 ValoKuva II, curated by Marko Vuokola, Gallery of the Finnish Academy of Fine Arts, Helsinki
2013 Young Artists 2013, curated by Villu Jaanisoo, Kunsthalle Helsinki
2013 Summer School, The Finnish Museum of Photography and Photographic Centre Peri, Finland
2013 Kuusi X yksi, Gallery of the Finnish Academy of Fine Arts, Helsinki
2013 Performance Muff-in and Cup Cakes together with Sara Kovamäki, Gallery of the Finnish Academy of Fine Arts, Helsinki
2011 Tila-aika avautuu, Gallery of the Finnish Academy of Fine Arts, Helsinki
2010 Sattumia, Nurmijärven humanistinen ammattikorkeakoulu, Finland
2009 Afterparty, Gallery of the Finnish Academy of Fine Arts, Helsinki
2009 Let me tell You a story, Gallery Spectra, Kristiinankaupunki, Finland
Collaborative Projects, Screenings, Fairs and Residencies (Selection)
2024 Screening of Karuizawa (Happy Birthday John), Aomori Contemporary Art Centre, Aomori, Japan
2024 BOOKED 2024 Artists Book Art Fair, Art Centre East, Lappeenranta, Finland
2024 BOOKED 2024 Artists Book Art Fair, Cable Factory, Helsinki
2024 Presentation of the Film co-op Paraika, Münster Lectures, Kunstakademie Münster, Germany
2024 Screening of the films Let us Stay for a While and The sleeping man, Filmwerkstatt, kino club Münster, Germany
2023 Screening of Weiter zum Wasser, Totuus Film Fest, Pohja, Raasepori, Finland
2022 Frosty December Book Fair, The Temporary Bookshelf, Helsinki
2022 12th Lisbon Photobook Fair, Arquivo Municipal de Lisboa | Fotográfico, Lisbon
2022 Paraika | Six Works, Ballhaus Rixdorf Studios, Berlin
2020 Screening of The sleeping man, Third Space Video Art & Short Film Screening series, Helsinki
2019 Screening of The sleeping man, Third Space - STOA, Helsinki
2018 Screening of The sleeping man, Putkifestivaali, Fiskars, Finland
2017 Co-curating the exhibition Varasto together with Heli Kaskinen and Noora Sandgren, Galleria Lapinlahti, Helsinki
2017 Korallin elämää, collaborative project, Teatteri Telakka, Tampere, Finland
2017 Screening of Four short films on Johannes Brahms, The Brahms Museum in Hamburg, Germany
2017 Screening of The sleeping man, Kino Club, EX-CLUB-Exhibition Laboratory, Helsinki
2016 Cooperating in a workshop with Sara Kovamäki in Arts Without Borders, Hollo Symposium 2016, Helsinki
2016 Cooperating in a theatre workshop within the project Korallin elämää in Diocesan Clergy Synod of Tampere, with Sara Kovamäki and Jaani Leinonen
2014 Screening of The Sleeping man at the Mumbai Women’s International Film Festival 2014, India
2014 Screening of The Sleeping man at Club Guggenheim, Helsinki
2014 Screening of Four short films on Johannes Brahms in Kino Tulio, Helsinki
2013 Assistant to the artist Mario Pfeifer, Berlin
2011–2013 Studies in film directing, filmArche -film school, Berlin
2011 Residency of the Finnish Academy of Fine Arts, Utö island, Finland
2011 Collaborative project Somewhere in Between with Sara Kovamäki, Lasse Poser, Hassan Blasim and Antti Mankonen, Tampere, Finland
2011 Projections for the choreography X-it of Johanna Nuutinen for the Finnish National Opera, together with Joakim Pusenius
2008–2009 Fine Arts studies, Art School MAA, Helsinki
Memberships
Paraika Productions cooperative, member of the board
Photographic Artists’ Association and Artists’ Association of Finland
AV-Arkki, the Centre for Finnish Media Art
Publications, Catalogues
rencontres internationales paris/berlin new cinema and contemporary art / catalogue 2025
Behind the Sea of Data, CounterImage Publications [2024]
Vast Distances, CounterImage Publications [2022]
Fresh Legs, Inselgalerie / Galerie Heike Arndt DK, Berlin [2022]
Tiheä hetki, The Finnish Photographic Yearbook 2018, Maahenki / Musta taide [2018]
ValoKuva II, Finnish Academy of Fine Arts [2014]
Kuvan Kevät, Finnish Academy of Fine Arts [2014]
Works in Collections
msdm collection water in the library
Special Collections, Bower Ashton Library, UWE Bristol, UK
Private Collections
Press / Selected Reviews
Valokuvissa vain pieni viipale elämää, Raisa Jäntti, Keskisuomalainen 10.2.2023
Liikkuva kuva ja tarinoiden mahdottomuus, Petteri Enroth, Taide-lehti 2021/1
Forum Boxin näyttely tuntuu pieneltä elokuvafestivaalilta, Sini Mononen, Helsingin Sanomat 30.1.2021
Arvoitukselliset videot, Harri Mäcklin, Helsingin Sanomat 23.1.2021
Inspirerande och kaotiskt, Leena Kuumola, Hufvudstadsbladet 17.5.2014
Grants and Awards
2024 Olga and Vilho Linnamo Foundation
2023 Arts Promotion Centre Finland
2021 Arts Promotion Centre Finland
2021 The Promotion Center for Audiovisual Culture, AVEK
2020 Arts Promotion Centre Finland
2020 The Finnish Cultural Foundation (working group)
2020 The VISEK Centre for the Promotion of Visual Art
2020 Arts Promotion Centre Finland (working group)
2019 Arts Promotion Centre Finland
2018 The Promotion Center for Audiovisual Culture, AVEK
2017 Arts Promotion Centre Finland (working group)
2015 The Young Artist Grant, Finnish Art Society
2014 The Anita Snellman Foundation
2013 Finnish Academy of Fine Arts
2001 Scandinavian young Dancers Competition in Mora, 1st Prize