photograph by G.J. Lischka
Roi Vaara (b.1953) is a pioneer in performance art in Finland. He has done performances since 1979 and performed over 500 times in almost 50 countries worldwide. Since 1988 he has been active in an influential performance artists collective Black Market International (BMI) whose mode of operation is free and open exchange of ideas. In 2001 he organized the EXIT festival which presented works of about 300 performance artists from 34 countries in Helsinki. He lives in Helsinki and Budapest.