The exhibiting artists are teachers of art education, department alumni and current students. Curating the exhibition are Maria Huhmarniemi, Kalle Lampela and Leila Lipiäinen.

Arctic Enlightenment
Valo and Katve 1–2
12 Nov – 13 Dec
Opening night: Wednesday 11 November, 6 pm. Welcome!
Arktikum House, Pohjoisranta 4, Rovaniemi
Open (through 30 November) Tue–Sun 10 am to 6 pm; closed Mondays; (from 1 December) open daily
Admission free.


Suvi Autio: Northern Spirits, 2012, wood sculpture

The exhibition features modern art and community art deriving its inspiration from the environment in the North. Valo will be exhibiting graphic art (Annamari Manninen and Elina Sipilä), paintings (Marja Haapakangas), photography (Leena Nykänen and Seija Ulkuniemi) and drawings (Anniina Mäki, Rida Haapala and Irina Havaste), wood sculptures (Suvi Autio) and an installation (Erja Kärkkäinen). Other highlights of the exhibitions include are a video documentary by Kristiina Turtiainen of an environmental and community art project in Utsjoki and Timo Jokela’s photographs of his winter art. The Katve galleries offer video installations by Sofia Waara and Atte Viljamaa.


Art Education in Change
Seinä, Hämärä, Kilo and Kajo galleries
17 Nov – 3 Dec
Opening night: Monday 16 November, 6 pm, with the MULAIR duo performing. Welcome!
Wing F, 1st and 4th floors, University of Lapland, Yliopistonkatu 8, Rovaniemi
Open: Mon–Fri 8 am to 9 pm, Sat 9 am to 4 pm, Sun and holidays closed.
Admission free


Reetta Nuutinen: Katse menneisyyteen [A look into the past], 2015, digital photograph collage, part of which is I. K. Inha’s 1908 photograph Poikia Hietalahden satamassa [Boys at Hietalahti Harbour], Helsinki, Finnish Museum of Photography. The work is part of a series of photographs which were created in conjunction with Pirjo Houtsonen’s visual arts education project Aikamatkalla I. K. Inhan kuviin [Travelling back in time to the images of I. K. Inha].

The exhibition will highlight art education, the interaction of art education and modern arts, as well as dialogical and community art productions.

The Seinä and Hämärä galleries will present community murals and a clay animation by the students of grades 7 to 9 at the Ounasvaara School, comics drawn by visual arts students, as well as the Riekko installation, which is based on a community art production by Timo Jokela, Irene Salonen and Johanna Tuovinen. Other exhibits include paintings created by Sanna-Mari Prittinen with her pupils and a documentary compiled by Mirja Hiltunen on the process of running a performance workshop.

The Kilo gallery will present a photograph and performance production directed by Pirjo Houtonen, titled Aikamatkalla I. K. Inhan kuviin [Travelling back in time to the pictures of I. K. Inha]. The project providing the impetus for the production is a joint effort of two courses – Media & the Messages in Images and Aesthetics – at the Normal Lyceum of Helsinki, the Finnish Museum of Photography and the gallery Kontupiste. Also on exhibit is a video work by Annamari Manninen titled Piekkarin henki [The Spirit of ‘Piekkari’ (the building in which the Department Of Art started 25 years ago)] and Kuvallinen dialogi [Visual dialogue], a work by Jaakko Moilanen and Minna Myllykangas in the form of a WhatsApp discussion.

The Kajo gallery (4th floor) will feature an exhibition of posters presenting art education projects.


Annamari Manninen: Piekkarin henki – Another take on visual arts education, 2015, digital collage.


Background: The Faculty of Art and Design turns 25

The Department of Art at the University of Lapland began its work in 1990 with a programme in visual arts education. At the beginning of 1991, the name of the department was changed to the Faculty of Art and Design.

The first of the Faculty’s galleries – Kajo, Katve and Valo – were set up in in 1998 in the Pienteollisuustalo [Piekkari, a building housing small businesses]. At present the Faculty has a total of nine galleries, six of which are located in the faculty premises on the main university campus and three in the Arktikum. The galleries arrange some 90 exhibitions annually.

The Faculty will celebrate its 25-year history in November with a range of events: exhibitions in its galleries featuring art education; the fire sculpture event Jokivalkeat [Riverlights], to be held on Thursday 12 November at 7 pm at Valioranta (north of the Jätkänkynttilä Bridge); an open house at the Faculty on Friday 27 November from 9 am to 12 noon; a seminar Art Education in Change, on the same day from 12 noon to 5 pm, at which the art education festschrift will be released; and a party that evening from 6 to 10 pm (invited guests only) in honour of the Faculty’s return to Wing F of the main university building. The anniversary will be brought into local schools through projects by trainee teachers and celebrated in a variety of ways in the city and on the university campus.


Additional information:

University Lecturer in Art Education Maria Huhmarniemi
maria.huhmarniemi(at)ulapland.fi
Tel. 040 763 9948

Faculty Exhibition Coordinator Leila Lipiäinen
leila.lipiainen(at)ulapland.fi
Tel. 040 484 4417