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Senior Researcher, PhD, Associate Professor in Contemporary Art
Presentation
I have been working as Senior Researcher at Cupore since the beginning of 2015. I have a PhD in Art Research from the University of Helsinki and am Associate Professor in Contemporary Art at the institute of Art History at Åbo Akademi University.
Previously I have had leadership and expert positions in the sectors of art museums and higher art education in Finland and in Sweden.
As an art researcher, I am interested in the formation of meaning in the changes within contemporary art and in the societal functions and dimension of art.
As a cultural policy researcher, I am interested in the politics of culture, the critique of cultural policy and the Nordic perspectives on cultural policy.
From the early 1990s on I have beside my research written essays and criticism on contemporary art.
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Research projects
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2025 — 2026 (ongoing research)
Evaluation and development
State of Cultural Policy
The goal of the project is to improve the overall understanding of the current state of Finnish cultural policy and to promote evidence-based societal debate. As part of the project, a publication titled State of Cultural Policy 2025 will be produced, and an event with the same name will be organised in May 2026.
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2024 — 2025 (ongoing research)
Art and artists
Infrastructure as a Success Factor in the Visual Arts
The research on art and art policy aspects has shown that the infrastructure for artistic work within the visual arts is significantly weaker than in many other art fields. This is also reflected in the working conditions of professional artists. Total income for professionals in the visual arts is lower, and job well-being is worse than in many other art sectors. To ensure that the sector remains viable and that consumers can continue to access the services of the visual arts, the sectors infrastructures must be developed sustainably, taking into account the needs of professional artists. The development project "Infrastructure as a Success Factor in the Visual Arts" addresses this developmental need. Success here refers to enabling professional artists to work and grow in their profession in the long term.
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2022 — 2024 (ongoing research)
Municipalities and regions
Regional art museums and their operations related to municipal cultural activities
In 2022–2024, Center for Cultural Policy Research Cupore is carrying out a regional development task assigned by the Finnish Ministry of Education and Culture. The task focuses on regional arts museums and their operations related to municipal cultural activities and interaction with professional artists and amateurs.
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2020 (ongoing research)
Art and artists
As an artist in Finland
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2016 (ongoing research)
The impacts of digitalization on culture and cultural policy
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2015 (ongoing research)
Art and artists
The Arts and Culture Barometer
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2022 — 2023
Art and artists
VISMA
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2017 — 2019
Municipalities and regions
EspooCult
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2016
Evaluation and development
Assessment and evaluation of impacts in arts and culture
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2025 — 2026 (ongoing research)
Evaluation and development
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Cupore's publications
Open Close- Cupore's publications 2024 Inertia, Duration and the Significance of Oblivion
- Cupore's publications 2024 Perspectives on culture, language and cultural diversity in Finland
- Cupore's publications 2023 As an artist in Finland: Professional artists in Finland in 2019
- Cupore's publications 2020 City Development and Cultural Policy
- Cupore's publications 2020 Urban development and cultural policies
- Cupore's publications 2020 The artists profession and livelihood
- Cupore's publications 2019 Mobility of art and artists
- Cupore's publications 2018 Young artists (under the age of 35)
- Cupore's publications 2017 The Changing Work Situation for Artists
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Other publications
Open ClosePublications
In och ut ur salongerna: Rum, kropp och identitet i Salong 3+ konst. Tahiti, 14(1), 54–75, 2024. https://doi.org/10.23995/tht.142645
Perspectives on culture, language, and cultural diversity in Finland (forthcoming) in an anthology edited by Alexandre Couture Gagnon and Diane Saint-Pierre, Quebec, Canada, 2023.
Salong 3+. Parvs, Helsinki, 2023.
Kulttuuripolitiikkaa erilaisilla alueilla, Kulttuuripolitiikan tutkimuksen vuosikirja/The Yearbook of the Association of Cultural Policy Research, 2022. (with V. Renko)
Mapping regional cultural policies in Canada, review, Nordic Journal for Cultural Policy Research, NKT 2/2022. (with V. Renko)
Dialogisuuden tasoja (Levels of dialogue) in Taidetta kaksin. Dialogien luominen suomalaisessa nykytaiteessa. s. 102–109. Parvs. Helsinki, 2022.
Taidetta kaksin. Dialoginen luominen suomalaisessa nykytaiteessa. (Together. Dialogic creation in Finnish Contemporary Art). Parvs, Helsinki, 2022.
Towards sustainable arts in Finland. International best practices and policies. Boekmann Foundation, 2022, s. 19–24. (with M. Mäenpää & A. Kanerva.)
Grenzen überschreiten in der heimischen Kultur – politik – das Beispiel Finnland. in Gräts, R & Hilgert, M. (eds) Innen – Aussen. Perspektiven einer integrierten Kulturpolitik, Steidl, 2021. (with S. Sokka)
Miten taiteessa tuotettua tietoa on tulkittava? TJNK-näkökulma, 1.3.2021. www.tjnk.fi
“SIMKA gör mig stark” – samarbetet som en plattform för konstens och konstnärens frihet/ ”SIMKA makes me strong” – collaboration as a platform for the freedom of art and artists, in SIMKA inventarium, Bokförlaget Faethon, Stockholm, 2020.
Grounding artistic development (with I. Kokko) in Elfving, Kokko & Gielen, Pascal (eds.) Contemporary Artist Residencies – Reclaiming Time and Space, Valiz, Amsterdam, 2019.
Arts and Cultural Management, Sense and Sensibilities in the State of the Field, review, Nordic Journal for Cultural Policy Research, NKT 2/2019.
Taiteilijatutkimuksia, (Artist research) Special Issue Journal of Art History Research TAHITI. Guest Editor, Association for Art History, Helsinki. 2017.
Taiteilijan historiaa kirjoittamassa. (Writing the history of the artist), review, Journal for Art History Research, TAHITI issue 1/2017, Association for Art History, Helsinki, 2017.
Eksyttäjinä taiteen politiikassa (Disorientators in the politics of art), review, Kulttuuripolitiikan tutkimuksen vuosikirja/The Yearbook of the Association of Cultural Policy Research, 2015.
Aesthetic nets put out in the Baltic Sea – on SIMKA and the project Floating Trunks, in Floating Trunks, s. 33-36. SIMKA, Stockholm/Riga, 2015.
“Ni har ju era fonder, vi har ju våra fonder” – om hållbar kulturpolitik på svenska i Finland, (”You have your foundations, we have our foundations” – on sustainable cultural politics in Swedish in Finland). Magma-studie 3/2014, Thinktank Magma, Helsinki, 2014.
On the complexity of artistic thinking, in 22 Ways – on Artistic Thinking in Finnish Contemporary Art, pp Parvs Publishing, 2014.
22 Ways – on Artistic Thinking in Finnish Contemporary Art, Parvs Publishing, Helsinki, 2014.
Attitydernas form – utställningen som konsthistorisk entitet, (The form of attitudes – the exhibition as an art historical entity), Journal for Art History Research, TAHITI issue 2-3/2013, Association for Art History, Helsinki, 2013.
Offentlighet i omvandling – i efterdyningarna av Banksy, Renault och andra industrier (The reshaping of the public – in the aftermath of Banksy, Renault and other industries), Hjärnstorm – Journal of art, literature, philosophy, and contemporary debate, 4/2013.
Art, Myth and Ritual in Classical Greece, Judith M. Barringer, review, Arctos Acta Philologica Fennica 47, 2013.
Föreställningar om form – skulpturala strategier i samtidskonstens historia, (Imaginations on form -sculptural strategies in the the history of contemporary art) in Identiteter, Konsthistoriska studier, Föreningen för konsthistoria/Association for Art History, 2013.
How to Do Things with Art, Dorothea von Hantelmann, review, Konsthistorisk Tidskrift/Journal of Art History, 2/2011.
Barbro Östhlin & New York, Annika Öhrner, review, Konsthistorisk tidskrift/Journal of Art History, 2/2010.
Media, art and the aesthetics of technology, in PLAY Aesthetics of Technology, Helsinki Art Museum & PRO AV Saarikko, pp. 96-111, 2013.
PLAY – The Aesthetics of Technology, Helsinki Art Museum & Pro AV Saarikko, Helsinki, 2013.
Grader av hemlöshet – om hemmets diskurs i samtida konstnärlig praktik (Degrees of homelessness – on the discourse on home in current artistic practices), Hjärnstorm – Journal of art, literature, philosophy, and contemporary debate, 1/2012.
Art Academy as University, Thoughts in the Finnish Academy of Fine Arts as a Learning Environment, in Art Academy as University – Finnish Academy of Fine Arts 160 years, Finnish Academy of Fine Arts, 2008
Art Academy as University – Finnish Academy of Fine Arts 160 years, Finnish Academy of Fine Arts, Helsinki, 2008.
Koska olen sen arvoinen (Because I am worth it) Naistutkimus 21 (2008): 3 Journal for Gender Studies, Association for Gender Studies, Helsinki, 2008.
Den framställande gesten – om konstverkets presentation i den moderna konstutställningen, (The Gesture of Exposure – on the presentation of the work of art in the modern art exhibition) Doctoral dissertation, University of Helsinki, Department for Art Research, Raster Förlag Stockholm, 2007
Maalaustaiteen presentaatiosta ja performatiivisuudesta, (On the presentation and performativity of painting) in. ed Pilvi Kalhama, Academy of Fine Art, Helsinki, 2006.
Led by Searching and Doubt – The Photographic Thinking in Heli Rekula’s Art, in Heli Rekula, Desert, Museum of Contemporary Art Kiasma, 2005.
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Expert duties and other activities
Open CloseExpert assignments
External expert in the selection of Professor in Contemporary Art Research, University of the Arts, Helsinki 2022
Expert member of the Scientific Committee of The Swedish Agency for Cultural Policy Analysis 2018-2021, 2022-
Member of the Committee of Public Information (TJNK), 2018-2021
Expert member of the working group for art and artist policy, Ministry of Education and Culture, 2017-2018
Member of the National Council of Visual Arts, 2017-2018, 2019-2020
External expert of the National Council of Literature, section Art Journalism, 2017-2018, 2019-2020
Member of The Forum for Anticipation of Competence in the Cultural Sector, Finnish National Agency for Education, 2018-2019.
External expert in the selection of Professor in Fine Art, Univ of Art and Design, Stockholm 2017
Referee. The Art Collection. Common Ground. 5/2018 ja 9/2018.
Referee. Nordisk Kulturpolitisk tidskrift 2018, 2020, 2022.
Referee. TAHITI, Taidehistorian tutkimus. 2018, 2020.
Referee. Publication: Etappeja. Kuvataideakatemian tohtoriohjelma 20 vuotta. 2018
Invited expert, Focus group on Nordic cultural policy, Nordic Council of Ministers, Cph, 2016, 2018
Member of Organization Board for Nordic Conference for Cultural Policy Research, 2017.
Finnish Correspondent and Member of Board of Editors, Kunstkritikk, Oslo 2014-2021
Member of Examination Board for Art History and for Curatorial Studies, Swedish Council for Higher Education, 2013
Member of Board for Cultural Foundation for Finland and Norway 2012-2017
Member of Steering Group, TransCultural Exchange, Boston, 2012-2017
External member of the Steering group of the Development Project of the Faculty of the Arts, University of Gothenburg, 2010-2011
Member of the Advisory Board for Art and Culture, Nordic Cultural Point. 2010-2011
Member of the International advisory board of Journal for Art History 2009-2014
External expert in the selection of Professor in Aesthetics, Faculty of the Arts, University of Gothenburg, 3/2010
Memberships
The Finnish Association of Researchers
The Finnish Critics’ Association
The Society for Art History in Finland
Society for Cultural Policy Research