An Abandoned Island Is Hoisting the First Helsinki Biennial

Vallisaari Island, an abandoned island off the coast of Helsinki, Finland is hoisting the city's inaugural Biennial. The island has been repurposed quite a few times over the last 200 years -- from being a Swedish military outpost in the 19th Century, to changing hands to the Russians, then finally to the Finns. However, the tiny island has been left to nature since the 1990s, resulting in a rich ecosystem, much of which is hands-off to institutions in order to protect the wildlife. As the first...