Accessibility

From Vilhonvuorenkuja to Vapaan Taiteen Tila entrance (public shelter) there is a downhill (8 m) covered with cobblestones.

The doorstep is 2,5 cm high and the door 127 cm wide (possibility to open another same width door next to this one).

There’s another downhill (20 m) inside with a concrete floor. On the way down there are two ramps (width 80 cm) going over footsteps (height 13 cm).

Doorstep to the event space is 5,5 cm high and the door 127 cm wide (possibility to open another same width door next to this one).

Doorsteps in toilets are 3 cm high and width of the door 70 cm.

The air humidity of an underground venue varies significantly according to weather conditions.

Location

Vapaan Taiteen Tila is located in Vilhonvuorenkuja 15. The maps shows the route to the entrance from Sörnäinen Metro station’s southern exit.

Video introduction (link)

Floor plan and dimensions

Total venue size approx. 600 m2

Some equipment

•  Movable walls with wheels
•  3x 16 A  fuse
• +90 pieces of chairs
• 10 tables of different sizes
• Refridgerator, microwave oven, water kettle, french press for coffee, four thermos cans, some cups, plates and serving bowls
• 2 toilets
• Basic tools
• Two ladders
• Carpets, fair carpets, pale grey molton curtains (conditions vary), curtain rails

Sound

• 2 x Coda Audio AP8 active speakers and 2 x monitors
• OMNITRONIC XPA-1000 main amplifier  2 x 500 W 1000W
• Mixer Soundcraft MFXi 12 (12 mic/line in, 2x stereo line in, 2x Aux out, 2x Sub Out)
• Mics: 3x SM58 + stands
• 3x stereo DI-box

Light

• Gallery spot lights, movable spot rails
• 20 kpl Multiform Multispot LS1310
• Led construction lights
• Color gels
• 4 x A-GHR 500 stage lights
• 3 x Arri stage lights
• 4 x Thomas stage lights
• Old PC laptop
• N. 40 m DMX-cable (5 pol, 3 pol)
• Schuko approx. 100 m
• 1 x Botex DPX-620 III – 6-channel dimmer pack (max. 1000W/channel)

HOX! Prepare to bring your own light navigation table!

Video

• Video projector: Sony VPL-CH350 3LCD WUXGA
• Video projector: PANASONIC pT DW6300E
• Video projector: Sanyo PLC-XF31
• Video projecto: Eiki LC-XB23
• Two LG screens
• Media player: BrightSign HD1024, 4K UHD
• VGA, DVI-I, HDMI cabels and adapters

 

The inventory list may be requested from the coordinator.

Vapaan Taiteen Tila terms and conditions (updated 2.12.2025)

Intention of use

Vapaan taiteen tila is an event space governed by The University of The Arts Student Union and funded by The University of The Arts Helsinki (Uniarts). The space hosts art – artworks, performances, gigs, exhibitions, festivals, workshops, evenings and more – and can only be reserved for events that’s main content is art.

There is no producer in the space, but the person booking the space acts as the event organizer and is responsible for everything related to the event (marketing, building up the venue, ticket sales, invigilation and security, clean up…).

Right of use (updated 10.2.2025)

The space can be reserved for use by any student of Uniarts or an alumni who has graduated from Uniarts in the last three years. The working group may also include members from outside Uniarts, but the main responsibility for the event and its artistic content must be of the student from the Uniarts. The person reserving the space and the person in charge must also be an Uniarts student and must be present during the event (a valid student card must be presented when receiving the key to the space). The same person can book the space for a maximum of 3 days per month.

From 1 March 2025, the space can also be reserved by a member of the staff of the University of the Arts Helsinki for the implementation of the University of the Arts Helsinki’s basic activities. The space can be reserved for staff use for a maximum of 56 days in one half-year period (approximately ⅓ of the days to be reserved).

Reservation limits

The facility is only open from 07:00 to 22:00. Reservations are made by default for the entire day.

The space can be reserved per project for a maximum of 3 days per person participating in the project. Person has to be entitled to reserve the space, and the reservation has to include a public event in the space. In the case of a working group, it is possible to reserve the space for a longer period of time and the maximum booking per project is 2 weeks. For training purposes, the time limit is 1 day per person participating in project, however, a maximum of 3 days per project in total.

If the space is to be reserved for a special reason (eg. thesis) for a period longer than the above limits, an exemption can be requested from the Board of The University of The Arts Student Union. The free-form application is submitted to vapaantaiteentila (at) gmail (dot) com and must contain the same information as in the basic reservation, as well as the reasons for a longer reservation. Exemptions are granted by the Student Union Board on the basis of general principles on a case-by-case basis.

The space can be reserved for staff use for a maximum of 56 days in one half-year period (approximately ⅓ of the days to be reserved).

Making the reservation

The reservation is made by sending a reservation message from the uniarts.fi e-mail address to vapaantaiteentila(at)gmail(dot)com. Reservations must be made no later than the Wednesday of the week preceding the event; in urgent cases, contact the space coordinator by telephone. Include the following information in your message:

Message title: RESERVATION, event name, dates of reservation (including installation, taking down and cleaning up)

Message content

Info for the reservation

• Intorduction of the event on a practical level (what kind of an event, who are part of the team)
• Full name, Academy / status, e-mail address and telephone number of the booker

Info for Vapaan taiteen tila web page and Instagram account

• Event descriptions and details (date, time, tickets etc.)
• Websites and Instagram accounts of the artists/ group
• Picture or poster

You may also deliver video footage to be published on Vapaan Taiteen Tila Tiktok by the coordinator.

Reservations will be confirmed by the Vapaan taiteen tila coordinator. As there may be several near-simultaneous booking requests for the same time, the order of the bookings is ultimately confirmed through the space coordinator.

Keys and tickets

The event organizer receives one key to the space for the time of the reservation. The key is obtained from the coordinator of the space.

Admission tickets may be sold. However, the events must always be free of charge for the Uniarts students, and for other students the maximum ticket price is 5 euros. The price of a basic ticket is freely determinable. The person reserving the space is responsible for the money transfer.

Organizer’s responsibility and cleaning

The booker of the space is responsible for any possible mess, damage and disruption that occurs in the space during booking. The booker is also responsible for keeping the event in order and for ensuring that the public does not cause any disturbance at or near the door of the space on Vilhonvuorenkuja during or after the event.

The cleaning of the space is also the responsibility of the booker, and the space must be in the same condition at the end of the booking as it was at the beginning of the reservation. If the space is left untidy the cleaning expenses might be invoiced from the person responsible of the reservation. So make sure you clean up after yourself and keep the space in a good condition!

In clear cases of misuse, student responsible of the reservation may also be banned from using the space for a maximum of 6 months. Prohibition of use may also be imposed if the space has been intentionally reserved with incorrect information in purpose to violate the Right of use or Intention of use for the outside use of the Uniarts or for clearly non-artistic use.

Discretionary material support

Discretionary material support can be granted to events based on an application. Support can be applied for, for example, to purchase material or equipment that is necessary for safe installation. Material support can only be paid to a student of the University of The Arts Helsinki or an alumni who graduated no more than three years ago. The amount of discretionary material support is a maximum of 20 euros.

Include in the application for discretionary material support

• Receipt for the product to be compensated (incl. VAT)
• Description of the purchase (e.g. in one sentence)
• Name, account number and BIC of the recipient of the compensation

Application for discretionary material support must be submitted to the coordinator of Vapaan taiteen tila within a week of the event.

Contact

All contacts related to the use of the space will be handled by the Vapaan taiteen tila coordinator by email vapaantaiteentila(at)gmail(dot)com or phone 040 710 4227. The coordinator is working Mon-Wed at 9 am – 4 pm.

There is no on-call in the space, so make an appointment by the Wednesday of the previous week if you want to make a visit.