Newsletter June 2024

Photo by Petri Summanen: The Research Pavilion 2021.

The Research Institute (RI) is a joint unit of the University of the Arts Helsinki (Uniarts Helsinki). Its task is to develop the university’s research and promote interdisciplinary and cross-artistic research projects and the application of strategic research funding.

Read more about RI

Feedback by Uniarts Helsinki's International Research Advisory Board

Representatives of Uniarts Helsinki’s Research Institute (RI) met with the university’s international Research Advisory Board (RAB) during its visit to Helsinki on 12 February 2024. The purpose of the board’s work is to support the development of research. The theme of this spring’s visit was cooperation and synergies. The advisory board welcomed the Research Institute and encouraged its wider publicity. In its report, the board stated that Uniarts Helsinki has an internationally favourable research environment, good research ideas, and excellent researchers. The board also identified challenges and proposed development ideas. 

News on Research Advisory Board Report

Personnel

R&D Specialist Tuuli Tahko began in her two-year position at the shared development services on 1 February 2024. She works at the Research Institute, promoting the measures presented in the university’s R&D roadmap.

Composer, sound designer, and kinetic sculptor Thorolf Thuestad began in his two-year position as University Researcher on 1 April 2024. He works at the Research Institute to promote the university’s digital environment for research and forwards his own artistic research focusing on kinetic sculptures in performance.

Visiting Researchers

The Research Institute has nominated 27 new visiting researchers to forward their research in its environment:

Sami Alanne, Ulla-Britta Broman-Kananen, Heidi Elmgren, Jukka Enbuska, Leena Heikkilä, Meri Herrala, Sofia Jusslin, Pekka Kantonen, Sari Karttunen, Samuli Korkalainen, Kaisa Korpinen, Ilmari Kortelainen, Aino Kukkonen, Anna Kuoppamäki, Juho Laitinen, Mari Martin, Janne Mäkelä, Sasha Mäkilä, Charlotte Svendler Nielsen, Satu Olkkonen, Anne Piirainen, Risto Pekka Pennanen, Margit Rahkonen, Elina Saloranta, Mariana Siljamäki, Jyrki Siukonen, and Outi Valo.

Fullbright Scholar

Associate Professor Risto Marttinen from the George Mason University (Fairfax, Virginia) has been accepted as part of the Fulbright U.S. Scholar Program. He will be hosted by The Observatory for Arts and Cultural Education within the cERAda research network at the Research Institute. Marttinen’s research revolves around sustainable and educational after-school physical education programs in under-served and urban communities. In Finland, he will conduct research on the Finnish Model for Leisure Activities and give lectures in the Research Institute and the university's three academies. He will arrive in May 2024 and stay until May 2025. The research project is a co-operation between the Observatory, the University of Jyväskylä, and the Ministry of Education and Culture.

Upcoming Activities in Summer and Fall 2024

The Kantele and the Diary: A Finnish-language event by Elina Saloranta and Johanna Tarkkanen at the Seurasaari outdoor museum on 22 June and 11 August 2024. Read more here

Video Essay Showing: Navel, Ear of God: Decolonial Listening and Situated Making by Postdoctoral Researcher Sophie Fetokaki (Uniarts Helsinki) 27–29 June 2024 at Forum Artistic Research at the Gustav Mahler Private University for Music (GMU) in Klagenfurt, Austria.

Symposium: FOUNDATIONAL: Exploring the Legacies and Impacts of Foundation Art & Design Education. Online 18 June 2024 and at the Royal College of Art (RCA) 29 and 30 August 2024. Within art schools and beyond it is common to hear Foundation art and design courses described as a key moment in people’s lives. Foundational sets out to explore how this is so: to ask in what ways Foundation courses, and their equivalents both internationally and at other levels of education have been foundational; what experiences have stayed with people and continue to shape their personal, professional, and creative selves? What aspects of foundation teaching have been adopted and adapted by other levels of education and why does this seem to be increasingly common? How can we begin to archive these experiences and how can we explore them creatively using modes of artistic research? How can we ensure that future generations can continue to benefit from the experiences of these pedagogies? Foundational is the third INFE (International Network of Foundation Educators) symposium organised in collaboration with The Royal College of Art, London, and The University of the Arts Helsinki. It will take place over three days each taking a different approach to exploring the legacies and impacts of Foundation art and design courses and their equivalents including ground courses, basic courses, preparation courses, and the (post-)graduate diploma. Day one will take place online and explore different archives, and begin to imagine what an archive of Foundation Art and Design Education might look like.

• Day one will take place online and explore different archives, and begin to imagine what an archive of Foundation Art and Design Education might look like.
• Day two will take place at the RCA and consist of presentations exploring the legacies of Foundation Art and Design Education.
• Day three will also take place at the RCA and consist of workshops that are based on methods of Foundation Art and Design pedagogies and artistic research. They will use materials from day one and two as their basis.

Day one tickets and Day two and three tickets

Closing Session of The Great Learning a four-year research project will be held on 30 September 2024 between 16–18.00 at the Multimediastudio of the Academy of Fine Arts (Uniarts Helsinki). The Great Learning is Cornelius Cardew’s large-scale experimental music theatre composition created in 1968–1970. The libretto is the eponymous text by Confucius, who proposes a method for harmonious society by way of sincere introspection, compassion and balance. These principles have consistently been applied to a complete study and performance of the work, led by Doctor of Music Juho Laitinen with support from Kone Foundation. Other key actors have been the Tulkinnanvaraista forum for avantgarde music and Koiton Laulu choir as well as Naarmu and UMUU ensembles consisting of amateur and professional musicians. All other enthusiasts have also been welcomed to participate, regardless of background or prior skill. In the closing session, verbal, musical, and performative introductions pave way for discussion. Various participants share their observations and learning experiences. Audience members are also welcome to join in the exercises. Read more here

Closing Event of ELLA - Embodied Language Learning through the Arts project will be held on 23 October 2024 at the Theatre Academy of Uniarts Helsinki. This event highlights key insights, results, new practices, and policy recommendations generated during the multidisciplinary ELLA research project. ELLA (2021–2024) is funded by Kone Foundation. The project focuses on broadening the conceptions of language, language learning, and learning in general, and on how art is intertwined in all this. The project aims at renewing pedagogical practices in various educational settings and at igniting critical discussion about how educational structures could be more responsive to societal changes. The main language of the event is English. Read more about the event and registration (to be updated afte the summer)

Save the date and call for proposals! The Neurodiversity in the Arts Symposium takes place on 15 November 2024 (a remote event in Zoom) and 22 November 2024 at the White Hall of the Mylly building on Sörnäinen Campus, Uniarts Helsinki.The call for proposals is open until 1 July 2024. Read more here

Previous Activities in Spring 2024

International symposium Gender and Musicianship in North(-) / Eastern Europe brought together delegates from 10 different countries. The event organised by the Research Institute History Forum and Research Association Suoni, was held on 12–13 February 2024 at the Helsinki Music Centre. Read more here

Connecting the dots: Intersectional practice and transformation in higher education discussion with a delegation from Alice Salomon Hochsule Berline (ASH Berlin) was held on 22–25 April 2024. The event focused on intersectional practices in Higher Education addressing how universities take action for equity on a structural level and build an inclusive Higher Education System. Read more about ASH Berlin

Kreativ personcentrerad vårdkonst (Creative Person-Centered Care Art) was a three-year initiative in Swedish-Finland, jointly conducted by Åbo Akademi University, the University of the Arts Helsinki’s Research Institute’s cERAda network, and vocational nursing and care programs (Axxell, Prakticum, Yrkesakademin i Österbotten, Yrkeshögskolan Novia, and Arcada). The project aimed to foster long-term cultural change in care practices by integrating creative, person-centered approaches within vocational education and elderly care. Key results include: 1) educating nursing educators to integrate creative, person-centered care art and cultural well-being concepts into teaching elderly care and 2) implementing new methods in elderly care, enhancing nursing students' skills through curriculum development. The project’s closing seminar was held in Vaasa on Thursday 16 May 2024.The project was funded by Svenska Kulturfonden, Konstsamfundet, Hogskolestiftelsen i Österbotten and Aktia. Read more at the project's websites: Åbo Akademi and Uniarts Helsinki

Ableism** in higher arts education seminar was held on 29 May 2024. The event discussed what ableism means, how it impacts us all in higher arts education, and explored actionable approaches for engaging anti-ableist discourses and practices. **Ableism is the privileging of people who align with normative physical, mental, or behavioral ideals, while creating barriers for those who do not conform to these standards.

Musica Mercata: Finance, Commodity and the Music Industry from Antiquity to the Present the 7th Symposium on Music History was held in collaboration with the Research Institute on 5–7 June 2024. The event gathered in total 116 participants from 23 different countries. The keynote speakers were Gundula Kreuzer (US) and Kyle Barnett (US). The event provided the opportunity for music history scholars all over the world to interrogate issues around finance, commodity, and the music industry in the history of music from antiquity to the present and in all parts of the globe. Read more here

The research project by Alex Arteaga, The Sense of Common Self  took place on 6 June 2024 at the University of the Arts Helsinki. This gathering proposed one day of collective and experimental research through the activation of an ecology of research practices in action. This methodical approach consisted in jointly carrying out an organized set of aesthetic research practices interconnected with those of a discursive-propositional kind. The Sense of Common Self is part of How to Live Together in Sound research project hosted by the University of the Arts Helsinki and funded by the Kone Foundation.

New Publications

Otso Aavanranta and Susanna Välimäki (eds.) (August 2024). Counterpoints of Art and Research – Concepts, Practices, and Demarcations from the Finnish Academia. Academy of Fine Arts’ Publications, University of the Arts Helsinki.

Mika Elo, Saijaleena Rantanen and Leena Rouhiainen (eds.) (2023). Taidekirjoittaminen. Synteesi: taiteiden välinen aikakausilehti 4/2023 (42.vuosikerta). Contributors: Annette Arlander, Kirsi Heimonen, Kai Lehikoinen, Kalle Lampela, Tuula Närhinen, Pilvi Porkola, Leena Rouhiainen, Anita Seppä, and Denise Ziegler.

Kirsi Heimonen and Leena Rouhiainen (2024). “On the process of writing site-specific choreography.”  Scriptum Creative Writing Research Journal 1: 1–25.https://doi.org/10.17011/scriptum/2024/1

Heidi Kosonen, Johanna Turunen and Aino-Kaisa Koistinen (2024). “Uncomfortable Knowledges and Transformative Learning: Reimagining the Museum in the Art of Gustafsson & Haapoja.” Critical Arts.https://doi.org/10.1080/02560046.2024.2316302

Janne Mäkelä (2024). ”Radio ja Sibelius. Rajoja ylittävä erityissuhde vuosina 1926–1957.” Lähikuva 1/2024.https://journal.fi/lahikuva

Risto Pekka Pennanen (2024). "Bosnian Discography Before the First World War: Recording Artists, Repertoire and Politics". In The Routledge Handbook of Popular Music and Politics of the Balkans, edited by Catherine Baker,116–30. London and New York: Routledge.

Risto Pekka Pennanen (2024). “Sweet Street Music for Petty Alms: The Barrel-Organ Career of Anna Balcarová in the Poděbrady Region, 1889–1905.” In Apostles of a Brighter Future: Women in Nineteenth-Century Czech Musical Culture. Slavonic and East European Music Studies, edited by Anja Bunzel and Christopher Campo-Bowen, 33–45. London and New York: Routledge.https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003264606

Leena Rouhiainen, Kirsi Heimonen, Rebecca Hilton and Chrysa Parkinson (eds.) (2024). Writing Choreography: Textualities of and beyond Dance. London: Routledge. In addition to the editors contributions by Emma Cocker, Marie Fahlin, Nikolaus Gansterer, Lynda Gaudreau, Mariella Greil, Martin Hargreaves, Simo Kellokumpu, Jennifer Lacey, alys longley, Amaara Raheem ja Vicki Van Hout.https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003397427

Suvi Salmenniemi, Pilvi Porkola and Hanna Ylöstalo (2024). “Political Imagination and Utopian Pedagogy.” Critical Arts.https://doi.org/10.1080/02560046.2023.2299450

Timothy Smith (forthcoming). “Encountering the Image of Thought in Artmaking.” Visual Inquiry 13(1).

Timothy Smith (forthcoming). “The (Un)Capture of Cappanawalla: Vital Materiality and Collaborative Artistic Emergence.” Research in Arts and Education 2024(2).

HAVE A LOVELY SUMMER!