Residency artists and researchers

Multidisciplinary art

Titta Aaltonen

Visual artist

Titta Aaltonen. Photo: Jussi Virkkumaa

I have studied or worked at seven different universities in Finland and abroad. University studies have opened doors for me to worlds that are completely new to me, and I have enjoyed them immensely. Without my previous university studies, I would never have become an artist.

Through my own studies, I have noticed how often the social class of a person’s childhood family influences whether they seek education and what type of education they seek after finishing school, as well as their success in their studies. Their family and class background also determine what opportunities are available to them after graduation.

At the Saari Residence, I will work on an art project dealing with the relationship between social class and education and the way education is gendered. I’m particularly interested in the importance of cultural capital, how cultural capital manifests itself and how it can be measured.

During my residency, I intend to familiarise myself with the literature on this class issue and collect background material on the topic for an inclusive work of art.

Titta Aaltonen is a visual artist based in Helsinki, Finland. In her artistic work, she is interested in the topics of social class and the identity of people and places. Titta has an MFA degree from the Academy of Fine Arts in Helsinki and a PhD degree from the University of Helsinki. She has worked as a postdoctoral researcher at Harvard University and at the University of Oslo and been an exchange student at the University of Tartu, at Uppsala University, and at ArtEZ University of the Arts.