Katja Juhola: Artist, Researcher, and Activist
Katja Juhola is a Helsinki-based artist and doctoral candidate whose work spans social practice, environmental art, and activism. She holds a Master of Arts (2017) and a Bachelor of Fine Arts (2010) from the Turku University of Applied Sciences, where she focused on social and environmental art.
With over 25 years of experience, Juhola has built a significant career, presenting over one hundred exhibitions in Finland and abroad and spearheading more than fifteen major social art projects internationally. Her leadership roles include chairing the Raseborg Photograph Centre (2014–2017) and the Art Association of Länsi-Uusimaa (2020–2023), alongside curating numerous exhibitions.
Currently, Juhola is pursuing her doctoral studies in the Faculty of Art and Design at the University of Lapland. Her artistic practice has evolved into a form of activism, centred on process and participation rather than the creation of art objects. Grounded in principles of equality and ecological sustainability, she believes in art’s capacity to drive social change. For Juhola, meaning is generated not through passive engagement with art but through active, collective creation—a process that challenges and destabilises hegemonic structures.
Juhola places great value on international collaboration and critical dialogue among artists from diverse cultures. This commitment is reflected in her founding of the International Socially Engaged Art Symposium (ISEAS), a platform she established to foster fertile, cross-disciplinary discussion. To further enrich these exchanges, she has integrated mentorship into the ISEAS framework.
She conceptualises the social art symposium as a form of activist art. Drawing on Chantal Mouffe’s theory of agonistic pluralism, Juhola frames these gatherings as a constructive, democratic space where conflicting perspectives can coexist without requiring consensus. In this way, she views the symposium itself as an act of personal and political activism, asserting the freedom of art beyond institutional confines.
Katja Juhola lives and works in Helsinki with her family.
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