Talking Pictures: Elina Brotherus
AaltoSiilo, Alvar Aallon katu 5, Meri-Toppila, Oulu
Saturday 18.4.2026 from 13.30 to 14.30
The next Talking Pictures event hosted by Photo North – Northern Photographic Centre will feature one of the Nordic countries’ most famous lens-based contemporary artists, Elina Brotherus. The event will be held at AaltoSiilo, Meri-Toppila, Oulu on Saturday, April 18th, 2026, from 1:30 PM to 2:30 PM.
Lens-based artist Elina Brotherus will bring an extensive Alvar Aalto exhibition to the Oulu2026 programme, which focuses on the architecture and fictional stories of the homes designed by Aalto. ‘Women on Waves – Elina Brotherus and Alvar Aalto’s Homes’ will be on display from 5th to 30th of August at the Aalto Siilo in Toppila. The exhibition is organised in collaboration with the Photo North – Northern Photographic Centre.
Photo North is organizing an open artist meeting at AaltoSiilo on Saturday, April 18th, 2026 at 1:30 PM. At the event, Elina Brotherus and Photo North’s Director Darja Zaitsev will discuss the upcoming exhibition and Brotherus’ artistic work. The event is free of charge. Photo North’s Talking Pictures discussion series invites photo artists, photographers and those interested in photography to discuss photography and photographic art around various themes.
Brotherus’ art has been alternating between autobiographical and art historical approaches. Her early series on subjective experiences gave way to works dealing with the human figure and the landscape, the relation of the artist and the model. In her current practice she is revisiting Fluxus event scores and other written instructions for performance-oriented art of the 1950s-70s. Another recent theme is architecture: Brotherus photographs in private houses designed by important architects, taking roles of various imagined characters. Her tranquil presence breathes life into these iconic spaces of architectural heritage.
Elina Brotherus lives and works in Helsinki, Finland and Avallon, France. She has an MA degree in Photography from the University of Art and Design Helsinki (now Aalto University) and an MSc in Chemistry from the University of Helsinki. She has been awarded, among others, the Artist Professorship Grant of the Arts Promotion Centre Finland (2022-2026), Carte blanche PMU, France (2017), the Finnish State Prize for Photography (2008), and the Prix Niépce of Gens d’image (2005). Her works are in over 80 public collections including the Pompidou Centre, Paris, Louisiana Museum of Modern Art, Denmark, LACMA, Los Angeles, and Moderna Museet, Stockholm. https://www.elinabrotherus.com
Main image: Elina Brotherus: Piscine (Transat) from the series Les Femmes de la Maison Carré (2018)