Kaisa Salmi - Kone Foundation

Kaisa Salmi (born 1968) is a Helsinki-based artist known for her environmental, performance, video and community art. Her works deal with themes related to society, politics and social aspects of life. Many of her works turn into community art through spontaneous or invited audience participation.

In spring 2013, she directed Fellman’s Field – A Living Monument of 22,000 People, a large-scale work of performance art, and the documentary Fellman’s Field in Lahti. These also constituted her doctoral project. Around 10,000 people participated in this award-winning work. The documentary has been shown at many museums and is included in the collections of Kiasma in Helsinki.

At the Saari Residence, she will continue her work on the theme of the Civil War in a larger context. She intends to complete Sovinto (Reconciliation), an exhibition and a new artistic platform for museums, which will be customised to each location by means of installation and performance art and other forms of art. Two entrances – a red door and a white door – will offer new perspectives on traumatic events in Finnish history in a spirit of reconciliation. She will also direct a documentary about the events. At the Saari Residence, Salmi will collect local personal histories and prepare the doors for the events, taking her inspiration from old local doors.

Salmi has an MA in Environmental Art and an MA in Lighting Design. She is studying towards a doctorate at the Aalto University School of Science and Technology.