ANTI - Contemporary Art Festival
ANTI is a Finnish non-profit contemporary art festival in Kuopio, founded in 2001/2002, presenting free live and contemporary art each September to roughly 9,000 attendees and hosting the world's only international prize dedicated to live art.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded2001
- HeadquartersKuopio, Finland
- Headcount1–10
- GTM typeB2C
- OfferingServices
What ANTI - Contemporary Art Festival does
ANTI is a Finnish non-profit contemporary art festival based in Kuopio that presents an annual, free-admission program of live and contemporary art each September. Founded in 2001/2002, the festival has operated continuously for over two decades and reached approximately 9,000 audience members at its 2025 edition across multiple venues in the city.
The festival's flagship product is the annual September event, supplemented by the Live Art Prize — described as the world's only international prize dedicated to live art, carrying a €30,000 purse. From 2025, the prize operates on a biennial cadence and is funded by the Saastamoinen Foundation under a 2025–2029 commitment. ANTI previously operated Culture Workshop Konepaja as a year-round programming vehicle; that workshop closed in November 2025 after the conclusion of the EU-funded Future DiverCities 2 project. The 25th anniversary edition is planned for 2026.
ANTI's business model is non-profit grant-funded: it generates no ticket revenue (all events are free) and is supported by a mix of Finnish national arts funding, EU Creative Europe, the City of Kuopio, and private foundations including the Saastamoinen Foundation. The organization employs 7 staff and is led by director Elisa Itkonen. Revenue predictability is therefore tied to public-sector grant cycles and foundation commitments rather than commercial customers.
ANTI - Contemporary Art Festival firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- ANTI - Contemporary Art Festival
- Legal name
- ANTI – Contemporary Art Festival
- Website
- https://antifestival.com
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 2001
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 1–10 employees
- Short description
- ANTI is a Finnish non-profit contemporary art festival in Kuopio, founded in 2001/2002, presenting free live and contemporary art each September to roughly 9,000 attendees and hosting the world's only international prize dedicated to live art.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
ANTI - Contemporary Art Festival industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Contemporary Art Festival
- NAICS
- Promoters of Performing Arts, Sports, and Similar Events with Facilities (711310)
- SIC
- Services-Miscellaneous Amusement & Recreation (7990)
- akta.pro primary industry
- Arts & Culture Community Festivals (Multidisciplinary Arts Weeks) (MPAGAEAG)
- akta.pro secondary industry
- Cultural Festivals & Events Organizations (BPAGAHAG)
Keywords
Where ANTI - Contemporary Art Festival is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- Kuopio
- HQ country
- Finland
- HQ region
- Europe
Offices1 record
Markets served
ANTI - Contemporary Art Festival business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2C
- Offering type
- Services
- Cost components
- Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Others
Revenue model
- Public Funding and Grants: The festival operates as a non-profit cultural organization funded primarily through public sources including Finnish national funding, EU Creative Europe programme, City of Kuopio funding, and foundation grants. All festival events are provided free of charge to audiences.
Pricing tiers
| Model | Billing | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Other | Annual | Free admission to all festival events |
Go-to-market motion1 record
Distribution channels2 records
Marketing channels4 records
ANTI - Contemporary Art Festival product offering
Product offeringCore offering
ANTI – Contemporary Art Festival organizes an annual international site-specific contemporary art festival held each September in Kuopio, Finland, featuring live art performances and installations across public spaces. The organization also operates year-round projects that enable artistic work, including the ANTI Festival International Prize for Live Art (world's only international prize for live art, worth 30,000 euros), the Live Art Finland Showcase open call, the Future DiverCities 2 EU-funded project, and the ANTIZINE digital publication. All festival events are provided free of charge to audiences.
Product overview
ANTI is an international contemporary art festival organization offering a unified annual festival featuring site-specific live art performances and installations. The main product is the annual ANTI Festival (September 15-20, 2026), complemented by the ANTI Festival International Prize for Live Art (world's only international live art prize at 30,000 euros), various year-round projects including Future DiverCities 2 and Live Art Finland Showcase, the ANTIZINE publication, and the Culture Workshop Konepaja venue (operations concluded November 2025). All festival events are free of charge to audiences.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Brands
- Live Art Prize: ANTI Festival International Prize for Live Art - the world's only international prize for live art, worth 30,000 euros, funded by the Saastamoinen Foundation
- Future DiverCities 2
- Live Art Finland Showcase
Products and services
- ANTI Festival (Annual International Site-Specific Contemporary Art Festival) International site-specific contemporary art festival held annually in September in Kuopio, Finland, featuring live art performances and installations in public spaces across the city. All events are free of charge to the public, and the program targets general audiences as well as international arts professionals.
- ANTI Festival International Prize for Live Art The world's only international prize dedicated to live art, awarded as part of the festival program. The prize is worth 30,000 euros, comprising a 15,000-euro cash prize plus a 15,000-euro production grant for a new work, and is funded by the Saastamoinen Foundation from 2025 through 2029. It targets international live artists.
- Live Art Finland Showcase Open call program that enables Finnish artists to participate in the festival's live art program, providing visibility and opportunities for emerging and established artists working in live art.
- ANTIZINE Digital publication featuring articles, interviews, and editorial coverage related to the festival and contemporary art practices, distributed via the festival website.
Quantifiable outcome
- Reached approximately 9000 audience members in 2025 festival
- +1 more outcomes
Companies that use ANTI - Contemporary Art Festival
Customer profileNamed customers4 records
Segments3 records
Ideal customer profiles3 records
ANTI - Contemporary Art Festival technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed No
API detail
- Has API
- No
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
ANTI - Contemporary Art Festival partnerships and signals
Strategic signalPartnerships
Seven partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.
- Periferico Festival (Italy)coreCollaboration partner for A Piece of Space project. Italian festival collaborated on creating a 96-hour gathering at Campo Cesana community space.
- Aalto UniversitycoreLong-term collaboration where students from Art and Media Department carry out projects at the festival as part of artistic research courses. Includes The National Finals of Non-Competing and Histories of Alternative Futures projects.
- University of Eastern FinlandcoreAcademic collaboration including dialogue events between artists and researchers, and hosting performances at university venues.
- Elävä Säätiö (Living Foundation)minorCollaboration partner for A Piece of Space project.
- i dolci rycoreCo-producer of Waterways project and supporting various festival performances including Lilluminen and Etiological Hydro Disruption Report.
- ITAK - Regional Dance Centre of Eastern FinlandcoreRegional dance centre collaboration on performances including Left Behind and Lilluminen.
- Kuopio MuseumminorCollaboration partner for The Museum of Small and Overlooked Things exhibition.
Scale indicators5 records
Recent moves6 records
Expansion highlights4 records
ANTI - Contemporary Art Festival competitors and assessment
Company assessmentBroad incumbents
- Festival d'Automne à Paris: Major Paris-based multi-disciplinary contemporary arts festival featuring dance, theatre, performance, visual arts, and live art. A broad European incumbent comparable to ANTI at the international contemporary live art programming level.
- Tanz im August: Berlin's leading international festival for contemporary dance and performance. A larger, established European contemporary performance festival that overlaps with ANTI's live art and contemporary performance programming focus.
- Wiener Festwochen: Vienna's major international festival of contemporary performing arts. A larger, established European player presenting international contemporary theatre, dance, and performance — overlapping with ANTI's live art curatorial mission.
- Helsinki Festival: Finland's largest multi-arts festival held annually in Helsinki. Operates broadly across performing arts (music, theatre, dance) as a larger established player; ANTI is a specialist contemporary live art counterpart in the same national ecosystem.
Direct peers
- Baltic Circle Festival: Helsinki-based international contemporary performance festival focused on live art and experimental performance. Comparable in scale, mission, and programming approach to ANTI, with both operating as Finnish platforms for international live and contemporary performance work.
- SPRING Performing Arts Festival: Utrecht (Netherlands)-based international festival focused on contemporary performance and live art. Highly comparable in scale, mission, and international contemporary performance programming to ANTI.
- Live Art Danmark: Denmark-based platform dedicated to presenting and developing international live art. Directly comparable mission to ANTI — promoting experimental live art practice through festivals, residencies, and artist development across the Nordic region.
- Moving in November: Helsinki-based biennial festival of contemporary dance and live art. Closely comparable Finnish festival in scale and mission — both present international contemporary live and performance art to Finnish audiences with strong artist development programmes.
- Periferico Festival: Italy-based contemporary live art and performance festival. ANTI is an explicit collaboration partner (co-produced 'A Piece of Space' project), and both festivals share a focus on site-specific live art and community-engaged programming in non-traditional venues.
Regional players
- Tampere Theatre Festival: Finland's oldest professional theatre festival, held in Tampere. A regional Finnish performing arts festival that overlaps with ANTI in target audience (arts professionals) but focuses more on professional theatre programming than site-specific live art.
Market position
Strengths4 records
Weaknesses1 record
Competitive moat3 records
Key risks5 records
Key highlights6 records
Customer concentration
ANTI - Contemporary Art Festival social profiles
Digital presenceANTI - Contemporary Art Festival financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
ANTI - Contemporary Art Festival leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles5 records
ANTI - Contemporary Art Festival funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds
Investors
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
ANTI - Contemporary Art Festival M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A
Investments
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about ANTI - Contemporary Art Festival
What does ANTI - Contemporary Art Festival do?
ANTI – Contemporary Art Festival organizes an annual international site-specific contemporary art festival held each September in Kuopio, Finland, featuring live art performances and installations across public spaces. The organization also operates year-round projects that enable artistic work, including the ANTI Festival International Prize for Live Art (world's only international prize for live art, worth 30,000 euros), the Live Art Finland Showcase open call, the Future DiverCities 2 EU-funded project, and the ANTIZINE digital publication. All festival events are provided free of charge to audiences.
Is ANTI - Contemporary Art Festival a public or private company?
ANTI - Contemporary Art Festival is a private company. It is classified as nonprofit foundation owned and is currently operating.
When was ANTI - Contemporary Art Festival founded?
ANTI - Contemporary Art Festival was founded in 2001. It employs 1 to 10 people.
Where is ANTI - Contemporary Art Festival based?
ANTI - Contemporary Art Festival is headquartered in Kuopio, Finland, in the Europe region.
How does ANTI - Contemporary Art Festival make money?
One revenue line is on record: public Funding and Grants.
Who are ANTI - Contemporary Art Festival's main competitors?
Broad incumbents on record are Festival d'Automne à Paris, Tanz im August, Wiener Festwochen and Helsinki Festival. Direct peers are Baltic Circle Festival, SPRING Performing Arts Festival, Live Art Danmark, Moving in November and Periferico Festival. Tampere Theatre Festival is listed as a regional player.
Does ANTI - Contemporary Art Festival have an API?
No public API is recorded for ANTI - Contemporary Art Festival.
What industry is ANTI - Contemporary Art Festival in?
ANTI - Contemporary Art Festival's product category is Contemporary Art Festival. Its primary akta.pro industry code is MPAGAEAG, Arts & Culture Community Festivals (Multidisciplinary Arts Weeks), with a secondary code of BPAGAHAG, Cultural Festivals & Events Organizations. Its NAICS code is 711310 and its SIC code is 7990.