The weekend of 12-13 September is a cultural highlight in the Lasipalatsikortteli. On Friday, 12 September 2025, Amos Rex will close its summer season with an exceptional retrospective exhibition of 24 hours with Tony Cokes, spread over several spaces around the museum. The exhibition will present video works by American artist Tony Cokes in a 24-hour series, including live performances in an urban environment. Vladislav Delay (Sasu Ripatti) and the Sonic Wilderness Remix group of Finnish musicians, including AGF (Antye Greie-Ripatti), Islaja, and Cucina Povera, will perform.
Tony Cokes’ (b. 1956) artistic work, spanning nearly four decades, will be on display in the indoor and outdoor spaces of the Amos Rex for a full day on 12 September from 6.00 am. The programme transforms the museum’s Bio Rex cinema, corridors, façade, and the Lasipalatsi Square into a living arena for music, screenings and artistic interventions.
Since the late 1980s, Tony Cokes has redefined the medium by combining text, music and visual elements. Cokes constructs multi-layered video works by editing, assembling, and rearranging fragments of history: archival footage, news broadcasts, political speeches, popular culture, club music, theoretical texts, and debates. In his work, he presents an incisive analysis of media, power, anti-racism, consumer culture, and contemporary political debate. The programme includes poster, t-shirt and screen printing workshops using texts, extracts and slogans from Cokes’ works. There will also be a panel discussion with Tony Cokes, curator and author Bhavisha Panchia and PUBLICS Artistic Director Paul O’Neill.
The retrospective, organised in close collaboration with the artist, brings to Helsinki for the first time key works by the artist, such as Black Celebration (1988), Fade to Black (1990) and Evil.16 (Torture.Musik) (2009-2011), as well as more recent works, including HS LST WRDZ (2021), Some Munich Moments 1937-1972 (2022) and Testament E: MF.slow.cancel.2014 (2024).
24 hours with Tony Cokes is curated by PUBLICS and Bhavisha Panchia, in collaboration with Amos Rex. The event is free and open to all.
On Saturday, 13 September, an open-air Fall Jazz event will take place at Lasipalatsi Square from 3 pm to 9 pm. Helmi Antila Quartet will be performing live, and the cozy atmosphere will be complemented by carefully selected DJ sets from Coco María (MX), Tina Edwards (UK), Antti Eerikäinen and Miia Laine. The event is open to all.
