Uniarts Helsinki Research News 6/2025

(Photo: Sanni Siira)

This newsletter brings you project news, upcoming conferences, and recent publications from the University of the Arts Helsinki.

Get Uniarts Helsinki’s latest research news and subscribe to this newsletter by email: researchinstitute@uniarts.fi.

News and projects

Uniarts Helsinki's Research Pavilion celebrates its 10th anniversary
The sixth Uniarts Helsinki Research Pavilion marks the 10th anniversary of the Research Pavilion project, an international and cross-institutional platform for artistic research. During the summer and autumn of 2025, RP#6 will present a series of events that highlight the rich variety of research activities in the field of arts. 
• Read more about the programme and theme
• See all the events and other information about RP #6

Strengthening research capacity in the IN.TUNE alliance
IN.TUNE (Innovative Universities in Music & Arts in Europe) is a European university alliance consisting of eight leading institutions in the fields of arts and music. The aim of the collaboration is to develop strategies for advancing education, research, innovation, and societal impact.
The University of the Arts is responsible for the work package "Strengthening our research dimension" and hosted its first on-site meeting in May 2025. Next steps include establishing the first Knowledge Hub, a collaborative platform, and organising the first joint research event of the alliance at the end of 2025.
• Read more about IN.TUNE research development
• Visit the IN.TUNE website

Recovering musical memories of the Finnish immigration
The research project The Land of Dreams – Migration and Music from the late 19th Century to the Present is collecting memories and experiences relating to music and the Finnish migration to North America and Soviet Karelia from the late 19th century to the present day. Music played an important role in the lives of Finnish immigrants, both in their everyday activities and during celebrations. Music created a sense of community and helped people settle into their new homes. This tradition is still alive today in the United States and Canada.

The memory collection is carried out in cooperation with the Uniarts Helsinki and the Migration Institute of Finland.
• Read more about the memory collection
• Read more about the research project

Voice and Justice project kicked off with a visit to the United States
The goal of the four-year project Voice and Justice – Music as a Facilitator of Diversity at the Sibelius Academy is to strengthen intercultural dialogue and explore how music can support cultural diversity and promote the reduction of inequality. The first collaboration project, Mission Music, took place in March 2025 and examined the role of music played at Latin American and Californian mission stations in the 1500s and 1600s, particularly in the preservation and revitalization of indigenous languages.
• Read more about the trip
• Read more about the project

 

Upcoming conferences

Ecological Design and Performance Pedagogies:
Sustainable Practices and Interdisciplinary Acts in a Climate Changed World (CARPA9)
28–30 August 2025
Theatre Academy, Haapaniemenkatu 6, Helsinki

The 9th Colloquium on Artistic Research in the Performing Arts, CARPA9, explores pedagogical approaches to, in, and for performance making in a climate changed world. CARPA9 is an international platform bringing together different perspectives and concerns around understanding and enacting climate justice in performing arts training and research.The keynote speakers are Dr. Raisa Foster (FIN) and Dylan Van Den Berg (AUS).
• Read more and register by 14 August 2025


Doctors in Performance Festival Conference
3–5 September 2025
Music Centre, Töölönlahdenkatu 16, Helsinki

Doctors in Performance, the sixth festival conference of music performance and artistic research (DIP2025), promotes performance and research, especially artistic research, by giving performers, composers and researchers the opportunity to present their research projects. The keynote speakers are Professor of Folk Music Kristiina Ilmonen (Sibelius Academy, University of the Arts Helsinki) and Dr. Inja Stanović (Department of Music and Media, University of Surrey).
• Read more and register by 24 August 2025

Rethinking Music Heritage
15–17 October 2025
Theatre Academy, Haapaniemenkatu 6, Helsinki

The University of the Arts Helsinki is pleased to announce an international conference on the various forms of music heritage. The conference is the closing event of the research project Diversity of Music Heritage in Finland, funded by Kone Foundation in 2023–2025. The conference is co-organised by the History Forum and the Seinäjoki Unit of the University of the Arts Helsinki.
• Read more about the conference

Artist Pedagogy and Artistic Thinking: Perspectives and Practices Conference
27–28 August 2026
Sörnäinen campus, Sörnäisten rantatie 19, Helsinki

Save the dates! A call for papers will be open from 15 September to 15 November 2025. There will also be an online post-conference event on 4 September 2026. The conference welcomes contributions from researchers in the fields of the arts, art education, and education more widely as well as professional artists and artist pedagogues across the fields of the arts. The conference is arranged by the University of the Arts Helsinki Research Institute and it is funded by the Research Council of Finland’s research profiling funding.
• Follow the conference webpage for updates

 

Recent publications

Find our researchers and their publications
Keep up to date with research and artistic activities at Uniarts Helsinki via the University of the Arts Helsinki Research Portal, read publications in Uniarts Helsinki's Taju repository, and browse doctoral examinations on their own page.

A Festschrift to honour Lauri Suurpää's 25 years as Professor of Music Theory
Encountering Music Analysis: Structure, Performance, Text and Beyond – Festschrift for Lauri Suurpää, edited by Markus Mantere, Inkeri Jaakkola and Cecilia Oinas, was published in May to honour Suurpää's 25 years of service as Professor of Music Theory.
• Read an interview with Lauri Suurpää
• Read the Festchrift in the Taju repository

A selection of other recent Open Access publications:
Aavanranta, Otso & Susanna Välimäki, eds. 2025. Counterpoints of art and research: concepts, practices, and demarcations from the Finnish academia. Art theoretical writings from the Academy of Fine Arts 19. Academy of Fine Arts, University of the Arts Helsinki.
https://urn.fi/URN:ISBN:978-952-353-475-9

Beloff, Laura, Cynthia Blanchette, Denise Ziegler & Hanna Vahvaselkä, eds. 2025. The Presence of Exchange – GIFT in Artistic Research and Beyond. Art Theoretical Writings from the Academy of Fine Arts 22. Academy of Fine Arts, University of the Arts Helsinki.
https://urn.fi/URN:ISBN:978-952-353-491-9

Bentis-Enchill, Nana Ama & Daniel Peltz, eds. 2024. On Place-Based Artist Pedagogies: Asiko Art School and the Nordic/Baltic Studio for Continued Engagement. Academy of Fine Arts, University of the Arts Helsinki.
https://urn.fi/URN:ISBN:978-952-353-471-1

Bhowmik, Samir, Kati Kivinen & Blanca de la Torre, eds. 2025. Unfolding island ecologies. Art theoretical writings from the Academy of Fine Arts 23. Academy of Fine Arts, University of the Arts Helsinki.
https://urn.fi/URN:ISBN:978-952-353-497-1

Coffin, Alyssa & Daniel Peltz, eds. 2025. The School of Shying a Way. Academy of Fine Arts, University of the Arts Helsinki in collaboration with the Centre for Contemporary Art, Lagos.
https://urn.fi/URN:ISBN:978-952-353-484-1

Djupsjöbacka, Gustav. 2025. Samat siivet kantavat meitä – pohjoismaisia runoilija-säveltäjäkohtaamisia [The same wings carry us – meetings between Nordic poets and composers]. Sibelius-Akatemian julkaisuja 31. Sibelius Academy, University of the Arts Helsinki.
https://urn.fi/URN:ISBN:978-952-329-378-6

Elo, Mika & Maiju Loukola, eds. 2025. In line, online, off the grid. Academy of Fine Arts, University of the Arts Helsinki.
https://urn.fi/URN:ISBN:978-952-353-489-6

Porkola, Pilvi & Riku Saastamoinen, eds. 2025. Esitys, vuorovaikutus ja hiljaisuus – kirjoituksia teatteripedagogiikasta [Performance, interaction and silence – writings on theatre pedagogy]. Theatre Academy, University of the Arts Helsinki.
https://urn.fi/URN:ISBN:978-952-353-089-8

Roumagnac, Vincent. 2025. Data Ocean Theatre (Out of the Blue): A Discipline-Fluid Postdoctoral Artistic Research Project Exposition. Acta Scenica 66. Theatre Academy, University of the Arts Helsinki.
https://urn.fi/URN:ISBN:978-952-353-087-4