Graphic Designer of the Year 2026 chops vegetables for a month in her award exhibition

Known as an art director, illustrator and book designer, Viivi Prokofjev transforms Luonnos Gallery into a space that combines historical styles from different eras and where she chops vegetables as part of a month-long performance. Chop Chop is a study of mixing and merging. It is a tribute to concentration.

“Chop chop” means hurrying and rushing, but the Graphic Designer of the Year 2026 exhibition is its opposite. In Viivi Prokofjev’s chopping performance, carefully shaped vegetable cubes are prepared with the ultimate aim of blending into the whole. The performance is an ode to the beauty of vanishing details, bringing attention to the often-invisible work involved in making and preparing.

Drawing on French culinary tradition, Chop Chop plays with a basic geometric form and explores the relationship between the decorative and the functional. Through the history of dicing onions, celery and carrots, the performance also reflects rituals of the past in the present.

In addition to the performance, the exhibition consists of spatial design and Tropism, a printed publication featuring contributions by Benjamin Mouly, Maya Byskov and Sara Karppinen, who write about the relationship between form and matter, as well as kitchen practices and rituals.

AD, illustrator, and book designer Viivi Prokofjev works as a freelancer and serves as art director at Suomen Kuvalehti. Her collage-like illustrations often play with real objects and styles from different eras.

According to the jury for Graphic Designer of the Year 2026, Viivi Prokofjev’s design demonstrates that true quality is born from care and a willingness to experiment. Grafia ry awards the Graphic Designer of the Year distinction annually in recognition of outstanding work in the field of visual communication design.

CHOP CHOP exhibition programme
Luonnos Gallery, Uudenmaankatu 13, Helsinki · Free admission

• The exhibition opens on Friday 2 October from 17:00–19:00 at Grafia’s Luonnos Gallery. Welcome!
• Exhibition space: open Wednesday to Sunday from 3 October to 22 November 2026, Wed–Fri 12:00–17:00, Sat–Sun 12:00–16:00.
• Performance: Viivi Prokofjev will be at Luonnos Gallery performing every Thursday, Friday and Saturday during the gallery’s opening hours until 31 October.
• Tropism 3 (Chop Chop) publication: the launch of the printed publication will take place on Friday 30 October from 17:00–19:00 at Luonnos Gallery. The publication will be available at the gallery afterwards.

Further information & interview requests:
Anna Suonsyrjä, Exhibition Coordinator and Curator / Luonnos / Grafia ry
+358 50 326 0993
anna@grafia.fi