NON Essential Art Toy Exhibition — August 20 in Helsinki
What to expect in Finland’s first ever art toy exhibtion?
We live in a world that tells us what matters.
Work. Productivity. Results. Efficiency. Output.
And then there's everything else. The things we collect, the stories we imagine, the objects we keep not because we have to, but because they mean something. The toys on the shelf. The art on the wall. The play that has no end goal. The joy that doesn't need to justify itself.
Are these things non-essential? We'd argue the opposite.
On August 20th, Atom Toys Studios is bringing those things to the center of the room. NON Essential Art Toy Exhibition opens at Föreningen Luckan in the heart of Helsinki as part of Helsinki Night of the Arts, a celebration of the objects, characters, and worlds that live somewhere between art and imagination.
Art Toy is an art movement where the figures are loved like toys and collected like artworks.
Featured Artists
Nigel Goh is a Singapore-born multidisciplinary artist based in Helsinki and the co-founder of Atom Toys. His work is guided by a single idea: the void, and the small joys that fill it.
Alex Markwith is a Helsinki-based visual artist whose practice combines abstract painting, collage, and street art influences, exploring power, mortality, and transformation through contemporary visual narratives.
Mainu Yinoot is a Paraguayan-born visual artist and sculptor based in Helsinki, creating playful characters across digital and physical mediums that invite connection while raising awareness of endangered species and overlooked realities.
Martín Acuña is a Paraguayan sound artist based in Helsinki who builds immersive soundscapes through synthesis, hardware, and experimentation, transforming listening into an experience of atmosphere and emotion.
Evelyn Virteve is a Finnish artist and world builder working across sculpture, stage design, and game art, creating environments shaped by form, light, and atmosphere.
Rck Cnd (Rock Candy) is a Helsinki-based mixed media artist and game developer who works primarily with wood, transforming complex structures into calm, symbolic landscapes and abstractions inspired by nature and space.
Elias "Ilja" Erävalo is a Finnish artist and tattooist born in Pune, India, whose creative journey spans painting, music, graffiti, and digital art before finding its home in tattooing.
Shotgun Karaoke is a Helsinki-based toy maker creating resin art toys inspired by music, action figures, graffiti, and kaiju culture, blending DIY craftsmanship with collectible culture.
Liisa Tuulikki is a Helsinki-based artist and designer creating ceramic art toys and paintings through her project BUNBUN, combining storytelling, collectibles, and porcelain craftsmanship inspired by joy and curiosity.
Yoshihito Suzuki, born in Tokyo and based in Barcelona, works with discarded everyday objects to explore the relationship between the artificial and the natural, the sacred and the vulgar, the past and the present.
Selection of artists at Non-Essential Art Toy Exhibition
What's On?
Explore a diverse collection of artworks from artists working across the worlds of art toys, sculpture, painting, sound, and street art.
And don't leave without picking up a free exhibition zine. It digs into the art toy movement, the artists behind the show, and the stories behind the works on display. Available while supplies last.
The Experience!
At the screen printing station, you'll work with ink and mesh to pull your own print, a process that's part craft, part ritual, and entirely satisfying.
Hold Onto Your Joy. Take a moment to reflect and capture a photo with our interactive mirror installation.
Enjoy a curated soundtrack throughout the evening, courtesy of DJ Jope. And help yourself to complimentary desserts from Matcha Life.
Art. Play. Music. Connection.
Non-essential, perhaps.
Human, undoubtedly.
When & Where
📅 Thursday, August 20, 2026 · 6:00 PM – 9:00 PM
📍 Föreningen Luckan Rf, 27 Yrjönkatu, Helsinki
🎟️ Free entry
Register on Eventbrite →
Bring your joy to the event,
Atom Toys Studios
