Intangible Forest Heritage in the Interactive User-Centered Digital Art Experience

This artistic research project investigates human experiences, agencies, and relationships with the forest. Contemporary perceptions of the forest remain strongly shaped by nineteenth-century National Romantic ideals, in which Finnish identity, forest landscapes, and cultural heritage were mediated through folklore, oral poetry, and mythological symbols. The project critically examines the non-human agency of the forest and contemporary audiences’ encounters with intangible forest entities. It culminates in the creation and exhibition of an interactive digital artwork in an urban gallery setting.

Drawing on oral tradition, particularly belief narratives about supranormal beings, the artwork explores how intangible cultural heritage can be reinterpreted through digital art. Digital media innovatively represents entities that are no longer part of daily life and are therefore at risk of being forgotten. At its core, the project asks how contemporary art can represent the forest and intangible oral heritage in a sustainable way? 

The interdisciplinary research brings together artists, researchers, and digital technology specialists. Through the process of creating and exhibiting the artwork, the project investigates human experience from multidisciplinary perspectives, generating new knowledge on forest relations, non-human agency, digital art, interaction and character design. It contributes to broader debates on the role of intangible cultural heritage in contemporary society, highlighting how forest stories shape cultural identities and everyday life.

By situating a nature-themed interactive artwork in an urban gallery, the project also addresses the accessibility of ecological narratives in contemporary art, critically examining the intersections of human and non-human agency. Ultimately, the project develops innovative artistic and research-based approaches for reimagining how forests, digital art, and performance can be experienced, represented, and understood today.

Our team

Our team consists of artist-researchers Carine Fabritius (MFA) and Maarit Kalmakurki (Doctor of Arts), whose collaboration combines visual art, digital performance, and artistic research. Fabritius (Aalto University) explores the human–forest relationship and viewer engagement in interactive digital art. Kalmakurki (Xamk) specializes in digital costume design and investigates the creation and embodiment of non-human digital characters. The team also includes Tiina Seppä, PhD, Docent of Folklore Studies, and young emerging professionals from various artistic fields.