Stripburger at the Helsinki Comics Festival
17–20 September 2026, Helsinki, Finland
Stripburger is heading to Helsinki! We are traveling to the Finnish capital at the invitation of the Helsinki Comics Festival. Organized since 1979 by the Finnish Comics Society (Suomen sarjakuvaseura), it is the country’s main and largest comics event. Over three days, the festival will feature a rich and diverse program of exhibitions, talks with Finnish and international guests, workshops, and other events. Numerous comics publishers, collectives, and artists will present their work at the two-day international comics and zine fair at the Stoa Cultural Centre.
KUTIBURGER: Joint Project with Finnish Collective Kutikuti
The central theme of this year’s festival is “Together,” directly reflected in a project developed in collaboration with our friend, the Finnish comics collective Kutikuti (publishers of the comics magazine Kuti since 2005).
Together, we have prepared and co-published two special magazine issues – two “Kutiburgers”: Stripburger #88 is dedicated to contemporary Finnish comics, featuring short works by thirty artists from the Kutikuti association, while Kuti #81 presents Slovenian comics creativity, highlighting nine selected artists of different generations, visual styles, and narrative approaches associated with Stripburger: Kaja Avberšek, Hana Černivec, Jure Engelsberger, Klara Kracina, Agate Lielpētere, Tamara Likon, Žiga Sever, Aja Sredanović, and Andrej Štular. Together, both issues paint a vibrant and diverse picture of the contemporary Slovenian and Finnish comics scenes, celebrating our long-standing friendship and the existence of a rich alternative comics culture.
The project will premier at the Helsinki Comics Festival with a group exhibition at the Stoa Cultural Centre, which stems from both issues of the magazine and connects Slovenian and Finnish artists.
We will also present a selection of Stripburger’s latest publications at the fair, and as part of Sunday’s programme, visitors will be able to attend a talk on independent comics publishing, featuring Stripburger alongside the German collective Pure Fruit and the Swedish CBK.
Stripburger will be represented in Helsinki by editorial board members Tanja Skale and Katja Štesl, joined by younger-generation artists Klara Kracina and Žiga Sever, whose work is featured both in Kuti magazine and the exhibition.
Following the international presentation, the Slovenian premiere will take place in early October: as part of the Tinta Comics Festival in Ljubljana, the DobraVaga Gallery will host a launch of both issues alongside an exhibition of the participating artists.
PROGRAMME:
Kutiburger: A Finnish-Slovenian Comics Dialogue
exhibition
Stoa Balcony Gallery (Turunlinnantie 1, Helsinki)
On view: 3–20 September 2026
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Joint launch party for Kutiburgers
THU, 17 September, 6 PM
Restaurant Sörkan Ruusu (Pääskylänrinne 3, Helsinki)
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Comics fair
SAT, 19 September, from 10:30 am to 7 PM
SUN, 20 September, from 10:30 am to 6 PM
Cultural Centre Stoa (Turunlinnantie 1, Helsinki)
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Indie Comics Publishing (debate)
SUN, 20 September 2026, 12 PM
Participants: Stripburger, Pure Fruit, & CBK (mod. Johanna “roju” Rojola)
Cultural Centre Stoa (Turunlinnantie 1, Helsinki)
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The full festival program is available at: sarjakuvafestivaalit.fi
The presentation of Stripburger magazine is part of an international programme co-funded in 2026 by the Slovenian Book Agency (JAK). The guest appearance at the Helsinki Comics Festival was supported by the Embassy of the Republic of Slovenia in Copenhagen.
Stripburger #88 (Kutiburger) was co-funded by the Slovenian Book Agency (JAK RS) and Frame Contemporary Art Finland.
