iseasfinland

ISEAS 2020- 2021

The International Socially Engaged Art Symposium (ISEAS) is an independent, annual, and artist-run art-science symposium in Finland. In August 2020 the symposium took place in Western Lapland in Finland and focused on developing of arts-based resources for conflict mediation. 17 artists, scientists, artists-researchers and documentary team members participated in it. The aim was to design arts-based methods for environmental conflict mediation and dialogical art symposium as conversational art that has social and societal impact. The approaches of the ISEAS are derived from art theories in dialogical art and from artistic and arts-based research. The development of the symposium is a continuous action research process. Juhola invited 17 artists and researchers to the symposium who worked on the goal of arts-based conflict mediation in five different groups. Participants were 75 local people in community art activities. Topics included forest disputes, a mining conflict, and a spiritual nature experience. The second part of the symposium will take place in Äkäslompolo in January 2021. An exhibition in the Rovaniemi Art Museum will take place in the summer 2021 and feature documentary recordings of arts-based conflict mediation as well as artistic research on three sub-themes: forest disputes, mining conflict and dialogue with non-human nature.