Meet the Artist: Johanna Ruotsalainen

Johanna Ruotsalainen is a composer and visual artist from Rovaniemi who is currently working as a junior researcher at the Faculty of Arts at the University of Lapland. Johanna Ruotsalainen’s Pasifistinen balladi – a media installation – is on display in the ground-floor exhibition hall of the Rovaniemi Art Museum during Rovaniemi Week. The work combines video footage and texts by Timo K. Mukka into a topical whole that highlights the ideal of peace, the significance of nature and the contradictions associated with the imagery of the North. The work takes a critical look at the exoticisation of Lapland and the exploitation of natural resources at a time when the climate crisis and geopolitical tensions make these themes particularly relevant.

Timo K. Mukka was a well-known writer from Northern Finland, remembered as a powerful chronicler of love and death, nature and myths. *Pasifistinen balladi* (2024) is the winner of the Timo K. Mukka Society’s anniversary media art competition and a tribute to Mukka’s career. The work is on display in the exhibition hall on the ground floor of the art museum during the museum’s opening hours from 8 to 13 September, 11.00–18.00.

Welcome to Korundi to hear Ruotsalainen talk about his media installation *Pasifistinen balladi* and his work. Admission is free – come along!

The event is being organised in collaboration with the Friends of the Rovaniemi Art Museum Association.