IMAGINE EVERYDAY! Outsider Art Finland is a Finnish outsider art event series organized in collaboration with HERALBONY, Pertin Valinta, and the Finnish Institute in Japan, taking place in Japan from 29 November to 26 December 2025. This unique partnership brings the Outsider Art Festival’s programming to Tokyo, to HERALBONY LABORATORY GINZA, inviting everyone to imagine a more inclusive, diverse, and sustainable future.
OAF team. Photo: Nauska.
“We are truly happy to collaborate with the amazing Heralbony team and to meet local artists and audiences. I love Japan, and it has always been my dream to visit one day. We want to show that we’re not just cute, we have brains too,” says Sami Helle, founding member of Pertti Kurikan Nimipäivät and representative of Pertin Valinta.
The main event of the OAF Tokyo Pop Up (29 November–26 December 2025) is the IMAGINE EVERYDAY! Outsider Art Finland exhibition, featuring artworks and art products by Maima Tani and Kalevi Helvetti, as well as the Pertti Kurikan Nimipäivät punk band’s media installation.
The exhibition is co-curated by OAF and HERALBONY and will be on view at HERALBONY LABORATORY GINZA from 29 November to 26 December. Open daily from 11:00 to 19:00, closed on Tuesdays.
The program also includes a film screening at EuroSpace Cinema in Shibuya on 30 November and a seminar at Design Hub Midtown on 4 December. In celebration of Finland’s Independence Day, Santa Claus will visit the Christmas market to delight artists and visitors and where Pertin Valinta Christmas gifts will be available for purchase.
Kalevi Helvetti is the alter ego of Pertti Kurikka. Photo: Pekka Elomaa.
Artist Maima Tani. Photo: Klaus Welp.
Participating Artists
Kalevi Helvetti is the alter ego of Pertti Kurikka, known from the punk band Pertti Kurikan Nimipäivät. A vampire-clad outsider-art visionary, his work draws from human fears, everyday observations, and macabre humour, spanning visual art, music, performances, poetry, and film. His artworks have been exhibited in over 80 exhibitions in Finland and internationally, including in New York, London, and Paris. The Tokyo exhibition features work from the series New York Plague (2019–2021) and Dead Elvis (2023), as well as the short film The Boxer (2025).
Maima Tani is a Helsinki-based artist whose work is inspired by marine life, coral reefs, and ammonites. She creates detailed ink drawings and large-scale textile artworks, which have grown into the multidisciplinary Hengittävä riutta – The Breathing Reef project together with her artist sister Satu Tani. Maima’s works have been widely exhibited in Finland and internationally, most recently in Paris, Stockholm, Tokyo, and at the Art Brut Biennale (2024). In 2024, she was a finalist for the Heralbony Prize.
Founders of Pertin Valinta: Kari Aalto, Pertti Kurikka, Sami Helle and Toni Välitalo. Photo: Lenni Liekkinen.
International Collaboration in Outsider Art
The OAF Tokyo Pop Up production is carried out in collaboration with Pertin Valinta Outsider Art Agency, the Outsider Art Festival OAF, HERALBONY Co., Ltd., and the Finnish Institute in Japan, with nominal support from the Embassy of Finland in Japan. The event is supported by Saastamoinen Foundation, Frame Finland, Arts Promotion Centre Finland, the Finnish Film Foundation, the Finnish Cultural Foundation, the Autism Foundation Finland, and the Santa Claus Foundation.
The Outsider Art Festival OAF is a multidisciplinary arts festival presenting outsider art across visual arts, music, film, literature, and performing arts. OAF takes place annually in August as part of the Helsinki Festival. The festival amplifies the voices of outsider artists and enables equal participation in its planning and production through a broad creative network. OAF pop-ups have previously been organized in New York, Paris, London, and Berlin.
OAF is produced by Pertin Valinta, an outsider-art production house and agency founded by the members of the punk band Pertti Kurikan Nimipäivät. Pertin Valinta is a social enterprise promoting employment opportunities for people with disabilities in the creative field. Its activities include a shop, gallery, festival, artist residencies, radio program, and innovative collaborations with partners in Finland and abroad.
HERALBONY Co., Ltd. is a creative company working with disabled artists. It creates unique brand experiences through art and storytelling, bringing inclusivity into business. By showcasing artists’ distinctive expressions and stories, HERALBONY aims to challenge perceptions of disability and build a society where every difference is valued. HERALBONY also organizes the international HERALBONY Art Prize, recognizing outstanding disabled artists.
