The Summer Artist 2022 is Olivia Viitakangas

Olivia Viitakangas has been chosen as the sixth summer artist for the Kunsthalle Seinäjoki. Viitakangas begins her work in June until the end of September 2022. During the summer, Viitakangas will conduct an artistic site-specific survey of a 55,866 m2 size park in the Pohja district. The process-based performative work borrows methods from the research practices. What is the character or the essence of the park? Activities will include participatory art, and the data collected will be in the end of the project a published book that mimics a research paper. The area of ​​operation is Seinäjoki’s Kalevala Park (Kalevalanpuisto).

Olivia Viitakangas (b.1999) is a visual artist working with performativity, photography and video. In her work she deals with phenomena’s often through simulation and imitatation.  Viitakangas is studying photography at LAB Institute of Design and Fine Arts, Lahti, Finland.

The City of Seinäjoki has hired each Summer since 2017 a newly graduated professional visual artist or visual art student to work as the summer artist. The Summer Artist, “Kesäkuvataiteilija” in Finnish, works with their own independent artistic project. The idea is to create something that is visible to the local community and has participatory elements. The Summer Artist works at the Kunsthalle Seinäjoki and has the resources and support of our team and the Cultural Services of Seinäjoki. The Summer Artist can use the workshops space Itikka as their studio. The theme of the project is different each year but there is always a strong emphasis on participatory work-methods and site-specific art.

More information contact art producer Pii Anttila, pii.anttila@seinajoki,fi or artist Olivia Viitakangas,olivia.viitakangas@gmail.com .

Olivia Viitakangas, photo Ada Pääskysaari