Colours of Contemporary Art – Theory and Practice
Sunday morning Colour Talk with Harald Arnkil
Sunday mornings are made for relaxing on the sofa in your pyjamas, a warm cup of coffee or tea in hand, while listening to inspiring voices. These speakers come from diverse backgrounds and professions, bringing a rich tapestry of experiences, but what connects them all is colour.
On Sunday September 28, 2025, at 10:00 CEST, our guest is Harald Arnkil, a Finnish artist, writer, colour researcher, founder and former president of Suomen väriyhdistys, the Finnish Colour Association. He will talk about how contemporary artists use colours, and how they regard colour theories.
From the 1960s onwards artists have used colours in ever more varied material, spatial and temporal contexts; the globalisation of the art market, the Internet and the availability of cheap air travel have provided artists with access to an exponentially growing array of ideas, means and cultures of colour. At the same time science has produced new knowledge about colour vision and perception which has called into question many of the axioms of “artistic colour theory”.
Harald’s talk is based on his doctoral thesis about colour in contemporary art which was passed with honours at Aalto University in June 2025. The thesis examines interrelation of scientific, philosophical and artistic theories of colour and their significance for contemporary art.
There will be time for Q&A. Jeannette Hanenburg, Inez Michiels and Maja Kaurin invite you to join the conversation.
The event is free but it requires registration, the places are limited.
Bio
Harald Arnkil (b. 1954) is a Finnish artist, writer and colour researcher and a founder and former president of Suomen väriyhdistys, the Finnish Colour Association. He studied art and design in England in the 1970s before returning to his country of birth to study at the Finnish Academy of Fine Art, where he graduated from painting in 1979. Harald’s work has been exhibited in both Finland and abroad and his art is in many private and public collections. He taught art and colour for over 30 years at Aalto University School of Arts, Design and Architecture, where he also led the programme for General Studies in Art, Art History and Theory, before retiring from his position of Senior University Lecturer in 2019. Harald Arnkil has been a member of the Colour Literacy Project team since its founding in 2020.
Harald Arnkil has published numerous articles and research papers on colour in art, design and architecture and has presented them in AIC conferences and other research venues. During 2010-2012 he was a member of the Nordic SYN-TES research project which focused on colour and light in spatial contexts. Harald has written Colours in the Visual World (2013), a textbook on colour for artists, designers and architects and his doctoral thesis Exploring Colour in Contemporary Art – Epistemic Boundaries and Artistic Practices waspublished by Aalto University.
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