Mirja Hiltunen

6.16 Expanding Communities of Visual Arts Education: Arctic Time Travels into Contemporary Art and Space (Paper)

Mirja Hiltunen – University of Lapland, Rovaniemi, Finland

Abstract:

This presentation analyses the development work of Science-Art Summer High School as part of University of Lapland’s focus on Arctic Art Education. The Science-Art Summer High Schools are carried out several years in northernmost Lapland in Finland, specifically in the Sápmi area. These polar region environments provide a unique setting for the convergence of perspectives in natural sciences and contemporary art, allowing for rich reflection on and expression of global phenomena. The schools are born from collaboration between geophysics, astrobiology, astronomy and art, and have annually brought together not only natural sciences and the arts but also leading researchers and artists in the field. The bulletin of the Science-Art Summer High School states that the school explores the foundations of existence through the means of art and science. 

Our goal has been to foster new approaches to understanding and interpreting phenomena at various scales of the world through the collaboration and intra-action of science, art, and secondary education. From the perspective of visual arts education, the aim has been to advance both project-based and STEAM pedagogy as part of art teacher training and to develop critical and transformative Arctic visual arts education. The summer schools have each lasted two weeks and have been held over three summers in most Northern part of Finland. Yearly a group of Art Education MA students from University of Lapland have been conducting art courses as part of the schools and their project studies. The art courses explore Arctic contemporary art that is both rooted in and transcends its location and, through hands-on creation as well as engagement with the work and practices of Sámi and other northern artists. The courses have also examined the Sámi worldview, cosmology, and mythologies of the night sky.

9.7 On the Frontline of the Climate Crisis Building Young Peoples’ Climate Citizenship through Art and Co-research (Panel)

Chair:

Korinna Korsström-Magga – University of Lapland, Finland

Panellists:

Mirja Hiltunen – University of Lapland, Finland

Timo Jokela – University of Lapland, Finland

Aki Lintumäki – University of Lapland | South-Eastern Finland University of Applied Sciences, Finland

Jarmo Rinne – South-Eastern Finland University of Applied Sciences, Finland

Abstract:

This panel addresses the potential of art education and art-based action research to positively impact young people’s climate anxiety. The discussion raises questions about northern knowledge and new materialism in community-based art education and how the new genre Arctic art education can enhance co-research and active citizenship. Can art and art education propose new means of participating and acting in the creation of the future? Climate change threatens people’s cultures and traditional livelihoods in northernmost Europe and circumpolar areas. The surrounding nature will change because of exploitation caused by the green transition. Often, people have anxiety and feel desolated in the hands of distant policymakers. The phenomenon is causing despair and anxiety, especially among young people. The panel discusses the topic through workshops and artwork examples performed in the project On the Front Line of the Climate Crisis. The project studies young people’s climate citizenship and activism through arts-based action research and co-research. It highlights social and societal dimensions and collaboration with art educators, researchers, and young participants who aim to influence politicians. The Youth Research and Development Centre Juvenia of South-Eastern Finland University of Applied Sciences and the University of Lapland coordinate the research project. The Kone Foundation funds the project, which is ongoing until 2025 in Lapland, Eastern Finland, and the Tampere region.