…me
Originally an art teacher, I finished my studies in equine industries in 2018 and became a horse agrologist. Before this new direction in life I worked as a lecturer and a senior researcher in Aalto University, School of Arts, Design and Architecture, Helsinki, Finland, where I also did both my master’s degree (1989) and my doctoral degree (2005) in the area of (visual) art education.
I was born in Joensuu, Finland 1960, but my family moved from there to Helsinki in 1964, and from there to its border neighbour town Vantaa in 1973, where I lived until 2017 (44 years!) with only two short exceptions. As a seemingly steady urban person by work and living arrangements I was always strongly drawn to the rural, the nature, the wilderness, (ad)venturing outside the borders of my home town and my country. However, in 2017 my lifelong dream of living in the country was fulfilled, and I no longer need to travel far outside my doorstep to have an adventure!
…these pages
When I started these pages in 2011 my aim was to advance and share my research in the areas of art education, gender, visual culture, ethnographic methodology, as well as my hobbies and artwork. Now, after only seven years, these pages look, more than anything, like a scrapbook of my life, but that is fine with me, and I will carry on the same way. Because web pages can easily be updated and their contents changed, they offer a great way of working with and developing ideas, texts, and projects as you go, and this is what I have exploited.
The gradually but constantly evolving contents can be navigated through the menu at the top.
tarja kankkunen 
Hi Tarja,
I’m a colombian design student from the Universidad de Los Andes.
I just heard you feel really interested on street art, here are some of the best street artists (at my point of view) in Bogotá with beautiful graphics, shapes, colours and obviously, content:
1. Toxicomano: http://www.toxicomano.org
(They recently traveled to Germany on a cultural program exchange with the government. https://twitter.com/Toxicomano/status/257257300476166144/photo/1)
2. Mefisto: http://www.flickr.com/photos/loisstavsky/3948136684/ http://www.flickr.com/photos/loisstavsky/3942667415/
(It’s a shame there are not so much pictures online, but their expressions are based on rescuing ethnicity and origin, it’s colourfully beautiful!)
4. Koch1no: http://www.flickr.com/photos/koch1no/
(+Illustrator and street art)
3. Popular de lujo: http://www.populardelujo.com/intro.php
(A blog about general, but delightful colombian pop-culture graphics, etc.)
*Some others – BogotáStreetArt: http://www.flickr.com/photos/loisstavsky/sets/72157603385807778/
* Elliot Tupac: http://www.flickr.com/photos/elliotupac/
(Peruvian street artist, really nice calligraphies!)
Thanks for visiting our country with such great purpose of bringing new ideas and exchanging knowledge with our education system.
Really love your country, very excited on applying to an Aalto’s program, not so far!
Feel always welcome at South America :),
EnJoy, kiitos and gracias very much!
.KatCaro.
Hello KatCaro!
Huge thank you for those links! I did have a chance to walk around the centre of Bogotá and see some really great works, and I was told that they were just a tiny fraction of what there is in Bogotá and in Colombia. I’m in Chile now, but I am certain I will be coming back to Colombia one day.
Don’t hesitate to contact me if you have any questions about Aalto. I really enjoyed my visit to Universidad de los Andes, and I’m looking forward to having interesting and meaningful exhange going on between our universities.
Muchos cracias a ti tambien, and I wish success with your studies as well as the application process!
Tarja
Hi Tarja,
I came across your post about SOTA by chance and am really delighted by it. I am a student there, about to graduate and I was wondering if Finnish Universities require international students to speak a bit of Finnish? Thank you for sharing, I did gain much meaningful insights about Finland!
Tory
Hi Tory!
Thank you for your interest in my post. As to your question, as far as I know, Finnish universities offer some amount of MA and PhD studies in English, and they expect their international students to have certified skills in English. Of couse, Finnish language skills are needed If you should wish to attend courses that are given in Finnish, but in such cases there are usually alternative ways to complete the course (e.g. an essay, a written exam), also in English.
Moro,
…upeaa miten energiasi; TheElämä välittyy tästä kaikesta; Elämä!
Mites, onko töistäsi tuo lentokoneesta koettu pilvimaisema teos myynnissä?
Vanhana “pilviveikkona” se ihastutti ja muistutti ajoista, jolloin päivittäin näki ja koki pilvien valkeuden, auringon ja äärettömyyden.
Hei Pekka!
Kiitos kivasta kommentista! Oletko pilotti vaiko langennut enkeli, kun olet niin paljon liikkunut pilvien yllä?
Tottahan toki voin myydä pilvimaiseman, jos hinnasta päästään yksimielisyyteen 😉 Kuva on piirretty sprii-liukoisilla tusseilla ja sen koko on A4 (21cm x 29,5cm), mikä ei ole suuren suuri mutta ei ihan pikkuriikkinenkään. Olisi kiinnostavaa hahmottaa, mitä ihmiset olisivat ylipäätään valmiita maksamaan tämän tyyppisistä teoksista, joten kerro ihmeessä oma näkemyksesi!