Pasifistinen balladi – a media installation

Johanna Ruotsalainen’s ‘Pasifistinen balladi’ – a media installation – combines video footage and texts by Timo K. Mukka into a topical whole that highlights the ideal of peace, the importance 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 topical.

Timo K. Mukka was a renowned 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.

Johanna Ruotsalainen is a composer and visual artist from Rovaniemi who currently works as a research assistant at the Faculty of Arts, University of Lapland.

The work is on display in the ground-floor exhibition hall of the Rovaniemi Art Museum Korundi during the museum’s opening hours, Tuesday to Sunday, 11.00–18.00. The event is organised in collaboration with the Timo K. Mukka Society.