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ISEAS 2024 in the Forest: Integrating Art, Ecology, and Community

In October 2024, the forest surrounding Mustio Manor became a living studio and forum for the seventh edition of the International Socially Engaged Art Symposium (ISEAS), which I organised. This annual symposium, a concept I initiated in 2017, forms the core of my ongoing artistic research, creating a sustained inquiry into art’s role in societal and environmental dialogues. Building on prior explorations of forest themes in Western Lapland (2020-2021), where we examined conflicts over land use, the 2024 iteration deepened this investigation. Findings from this ongoing work, which I presented at the 2023 Research in Art Education conference and published in spring 2024, demonstrate how socially engaged art can both mitigate eco-anxiety and expand our understanding of the forest’s multifaceted identity—as a carbon sink, a source of timber, a space for recreation, and a vital site for traditions like reindeer herding. This work continually highlights the urgent need to address unsustainable consumption.

The ethos of ISEAS is deeply collaborative, centred on the practice of “conversational art.” This methodology employs a diverse range of artistic practices to foster dialogue, moving beyond words to use creative, art-based approaches to build profound connections and facilitate meaningful exchange.

The 2024 symposium convened a diverse group of Finnish artists, researchers, and fifteen art students from Franklin University Switzerland, alongside their faculty. Based out of the historic Mustio Manor hotel, participants journeyed daily into the nearby forest for workshops, using artistic methods to engage with the landscape and each other. A dedicated documentary team captured the entire process, and this rich footage has since been crafted into a series of short audiovisual pieces and a feature documentary that traces the journey of the event.

A defining moment of the gathering was a communal dinner, prepared entirely with ingredients foraged by the participants from the local swamps and forests. This shared meal, which was filmed, became a powerful catalyst for discussions on the deep interconnections between forests, nature, and sustenance.

Working in small, interdisciplinary groups—each comprising a researcher, an artist, and students—participants explored the forest theme from unique perspectives. Their collaborative creations were then presented to the wider group, sparking a rich, collective discussion. The workshop’s setting itself was a poignant teacher, featuring a mosaic of clear-cut areas adjacent to protected wetlands and streams. This environment profoundly shaped the artistic and research outcomes, an influence that continued to evolve in the participants’ analyses long after the event concluded.

The artistic works generated from ISEAS 2024 were documented and analyzed as a core part of the research process. The outcomes continue to inform our ongoing work, and future opportunities to present the project are being explored.

John Björkman

Ph.D. student in Nordic folkloristics, Åbo Akademi UniversityE-mail john.bjorkman@abo.fi

I study sacred natural places of 19th century Southwest Finnish folk belief. Based on archival accounts and local historic literature, I have been able to identify and localize altogether 120 natural sites, which local belief traditions have considered supernatural or beyond ordinary and which have consequently held a sacred status for local societies. For example, the places can have been considered to be inhabited by supernatural beings, possess supernatural qualities, or approaching them has been laden with ritualized behaviour and taboos. My method is to study these places as a part of socially organized cultural environments, in particular villages. I study the sites on historic village maps to study if there are patterns in the locations of sacred sites and the spatial order of village societies. I also visit the sites in the terrain to see if there are topographic traits which “attract” beliefs about the supernatural.

https://www.donnerinstitute.fi/en/research/our-researchers

Silvia Gaiani

Silvia is a senior researcher at Ruralia Institute, University of Helsinki. She is currently leading a long-term research project on food innovation and entrepreneurship toward a sustainable transition. In addition, she is also involved in 6 different projects (at EU, national and regional level) that analyze different aspects of the food systems. Regarding her background, Silvia is an agricultural economist from Bologna, Italy. Before joining Ruralia, she worked for different UN agencies, including FAO and WMO, as well as for different research institutes, like the Italian Research Council.

For Silvia, interacting with colleagues and students is one of the most important sources of inspiration. (https://www.unipid.fi/news/face-behind-the-course-meet-silvia-gaiani/)

Katja Juhola

Katja Juhola, born in 1975, is a Finnish curator and visual artist and art researcher renowned for founding the International Socially Engaged Art Symposium (ISEAS). Currently pursuing a doctorate at the University of Lapland, Juhola’s artistic journey spans over two decades, featuring numerous exhibitions and major social arts projects in Finland and abroad. Passionate about activism, she believes in art’s transformative power and actively engages in dismantling hegemonic structures. As the former chairperson of art associations and curator, Juhola emphasizes the importance of dialogue, equality, and ecological values in her work, considering the symposium a form of personal activism within the free realm of art. (Photograph Touko Hujanen)

Ossi Kakko

Ossi Kakko is a learning facilitator and documentarist based in Central Finland. He’s focused in foraging and food preservation traditions, edible wild plants, fungi and lichens, subsistence farming, ecoforestry, natural materials knowhow, herbologies and community building. Following links are mostly in finnish and discuss foraging, lactofermentation, soil biology and horticulture.

https://www.appropedia.org/Ossi_Kakko

Aliisa Koivisto

Aliisa Koivisto (1984) is a musician, sound designer and pedagogue of arts and crafts. Music technology, having been her greatest passion for two decades, she is now going through a metamorphosis, leaving instructing creative workshops and activities for others to be able to concentrate on her own sonic art explorations. In her art, Aliisa emphasises meanings and purpose. She is interpreting phenomena and her personal experiences into languages of sound and music. Aliisa loves sonic storytelling and composing soundscapes of utopias. She believes that anthropomorphising and adding fictive characteristics to living beings other than humans in her art increases compassion and empathy towards other species and strengthens people’s bond with nature.

Lotta Lindholm-Normaja

Lotta Lindholm-Normaja is Finno-Swedish with her roots in the south of Finland. Lotta special interest is working outdoors in nature as much as possible.  She is working mainly as a nature survey with knowledge of Finnish vascular plants and different habitats, but also birds and mammals. The subject of biodiversity is close to her heart. She has also an exam in gardening and landscape planning and has been growing organic vegetable both in greenhouses and on the field. She is a wilderness guide and also a qigong teacher. The ancient art of qigong is traditionally made outdoors in nature which strengthens the power of the exercise.  She is also interested in painting and drawing and photographing nature and have had her work in minor art exhibitions.

Alina Miete

Alina Miete (1976) is a singer and nature witch who is inspired by nature and spirits. She has been working with shamanism and healing since 2011 and has a long bloodline of healers in her family. Alina’s latest passion is to compose traditional Finnish spells and perform them with a shaman drum.

Teemu Mäki

TEEMU MÄKI (1967–) is a director (of theatre, film and opera), visual artist, writer and theorist (Doctor of Fine Arts, 2005). 

Since 1990 he has been an independent, freelancing artist, except for the years 2008–2013, when he was the Professor of Fine Arts in Aalto University (Finland).

Mäki has had 61 solo exhibitions, participated in over 250 group shows, written ten books and directed and written numerous theatre plays, films and operas.

His recent projects include Do You Remember Chechnya? (exhibition), Riverbulls — a Letter to Vladimir Putin(dokumenttielokuva), Posthuman (opera, Max Savikangas & Teemu Mäki) ja Taiteen tehtävä (expanded edition of a book of essays).

Mäki lives in Helsinki, but works often also in Lapua (Ostrobothnia, Finland), where he was born and where his old family house is.

His hobbies are badminton and cultural politics. He is the Chairperson of The Artists’ Association of Finland (2018–) and President of IAA Europe (2023–), the umbrella organization of European artists’ associations.

www.teemumaki.com

Hugo Peña

Choreographer, movement researcher and dance pedagogue, Bachelor in Dance from the Academia de Humanismo University, Santiago, Chile; and with studies of Architecture at the University of Bío Bío, Concepción, Chile. 

He was a University professor of the Dance and Theater career of the Faculty of Arts of the Universidad Academia de Humanismo (2007-2016). He was Associate Researcher at the Center for Research in Latin American Aesthetics, Faculty of Music, University of Chile. He was a fellow of the interdisciplinary laboratory MOVIMIENTO SUR, an international platform for contemporary dance and performing arts for Latin America in 2012 and 2014, and a collaborator in 2015. 

In the year 2011 he created the interdisciplinary project Al Margen (On the Margin) where, through installation, sound and image performance, he generates projects that delve into contingent issues of Chilean reality, such as poverty, marginality, political memory, always seeking unconventional spaces for his interventions. 

Since 2016 he lives in Berlin where he continues to develop various works in collaboration with different Chilean and European artists, especially in street intervention performance. 

He is currently part of the MA in Dance: Participation, Communities, Activism at the London Contemporary Dance School ‘The Place’, UK.

Marja-Leena Pétas-Arjava

Marja-Leena Pétas-Arjava, is a passionate advocate for the arts with a boundless approach to creativity. She has a demonstrated history of working in the arts management both in public and private sector. She has a Master of Music degree in Music Education from Sibelius Academy of the Uniarts Helsinki and is also a master pianist.

Over the years, she has been dedicated to supporting and promoting the careers of young artists both in Finland and internationally. Currently her role at the University of the Arts Helsinki centers around external relations, fundraising and building collaborative projects that foster artistic growth.

She is deeply connected to Finnish nature and draws endless inspiration from its beauty, using it as a wellspring for her creative work.

Jussi Vierimaa

Jussi Vierimaa (Born 1978 in Northern Finland) Photographer and passionate student of humanity, growth and spirituality. Freelance photographer since 2002, I have worked for a vast number of clients, magazines and agencies. Curious about creativity, growth, awareness, presence, nature, communication, relationships, tantra, conflict resolution and language. Certified Zen Coach and Constructive communication trainer, Men’s Circle facilitator and workshop leader. Mystic tendencies since age 14, I moved to London to study at 19 and later lived in the Himalayas for a while, roaming the mountains and studying buddhist philosophy. Now based in Turku and Helsinki, studying nonduality and plotting new world order of the good kind. http://www.jussivierimaa.cominstagram.com/jussivierimaa

Linus Westerlund

Linus Westerlund (1998) is a freelance film and TV producer from Raseborg, Karis. He has a bachelor’s degree in media production from being a film and TV producer. He works at YLE, NEP, and other larger media companies in Finland. He runs a medium-sized multimedia production company based in Raseborg (RiverPoint Oy). Linus mainly works as a producer and dop/camera operator, but he can manage any part of media production. When Linus is part of a production, his role can often be described as “Joka paikan höylä”, which roughly translates to “the person that does it all”.

Clarice Zdanski

Clarice Zdanski (1957) is an artist, art educator, art historian, writer, and translator. Currently, she teaches studio art and art history at Franklin University Switzerland in Sorengo (Lugano), Switzerland, and collaborates with the International Balzan Foundation on editorial projects.

 For Clarice, art makes us human, and its place in our lives – in everyone’s lives – is undeniable. The artist’s work must remind us all that this precious part of our shared existence cannot be silenced and that by combining our creative energies, we can make the world a better place to live.

After participating in the 2017 and 2022 editions of ISEAS, Clarice has seen this process at work and felt a need to pass on her knowledge and experience to younger people. That is why she has brought her seminar on sustainability and art to Mustio for the 2024 edition of the symposium.

Proud Sponsor of ISEAS: Mustio Manor

We are thrilled to announce that Mustio Manor is the proud sponsor of the International Socially Engaged Art Symposium (ISEAS). With their unwavering commitment to sustainability, culture, and heritage, Mustio Manor is the perfect partner for our event, which fosters environmental consciousness and socially engaged artistic practices.

Sustainability at the Core

Since 2020, Mustio Manor has been at the forefront of responsible tourism, earning the prestigious Green Activities certification and actively participating in the Sustainable Travel Finland program. Their dedication to preserving nature, reducing waste, and protecting biodiversity aligns seamlessly with ISEAS’s mission to promote socially engaged art that positively impacts both people and the environment.

A Haven of Heritage and Nature

Set amidst lush forests and serene waters, Mustio Manor provides the ideal backdrop for ISEAS. Their historical estate not only preserves Finland’s rich cultural heritage but also offers a space where art, culture, and nature come together. Just as ISEAS seeks to inspire through meaningful artistic collaboration, Mustio Manor nurtures a deep connection to nature and history, making this partnership a natural fit.

Shared Values, Shared Vision

Mustio Manor’s commitment to social, cultural, and ecological sustainability is at the heart of everything they do. By sponsoring ISEAS, they reaffirm their dedication to creating a future where both art and nature can flourish, hand in hand. We are honored to partner with an institution that shares our values and vision for a sustainable, socially engaged world.

Join Us in Shaping a Sustainable Future

With Mustio Manor as our sponsor, ISEAS will be a unique and transformative experience for all participants, blending artistic innovation with environmental stewardship. Together, we are working towards a brighter future where culture, community, and sustainability thrive.

A big thank you to Mustio Manor for supporting ISEAS and helping to make this meaningful event a reality!

To learn more about our sponsor’s incredible work in sustainability and their beautiful estate, visit www.mustionlinna.fi.