ANTI – Contemporary Art Festival

ANTI – Contemporary Art Festival is an art festival that presents site-specific contemporary art which covers all artistic forms from sculpture and environmental art to dance, live art and performance. The annual festival is held in Kuopio, Finland. The first ANTI Festival was first organized in 2002 by The Arts Council of Northern Savonia. The ANTI – Contemporary Art Festival Association was established in 2005 to coordinate the festival.

Over the years, ANTI has become Finland's leading presenter of live art, as it promotes innovative developments in sonic and visual arts. Artworks featured in the festival are presented in multiple different locations depending on the theme and nature.

The name "ANTI" means "gift" in Finnish, which reflects the festival's policy to make art accessible to all, artworks that are presented in the festival are free of charge, allowing people who may not typically engage with art to become accidental participants and viewers, which leads to most audiences often experience the disruptive potential of the works profoundly.

In 2007, Artistic Director Erkki Soininen was replaced by Gregg Whelan, who was appointed as Co-Artistic Director of ANTI. Whelan also works as a performance-maker, writer and co-artistic director of Lone Twin and Lone Twin Theatre.

In 2013, ANTI – Contemporary Art Festival launched the ANTI Festival International Prize for Live Art, an international art award with a prize of 30,000 Euros. The Live Art Prize has been awarded since 2014, recognizing outstanding contributions to the field of live art.

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