Look at your light, granite

Riikka Haapasaari proposes to explore how migratory processes change the cultural fabric and the acoustics of the landscape end environment of where migration happens, and approach this from the viewpoints of sound and matter. When something or someone leaves or is taken away, a space, be it literal of figurative remains – at least for a moment. It might be refilled later on but for the moment it changes the (literal or figurative) acoustics of the place. The artist will work with locals in finding these kinds of places and work on an audio-visual piece that is inspired by or makes visible the changing landscape, perhaps examining the agency of these places and landscapes.

Riikka Haapasaari is an artist and a filmmaker working with light and time in a quest to narrate the invisible and intangible. She is currently focusing on how the agency of materials such as glass can generate different and curious points of view into what it means to be a human. Presently working in the area between craft, cinema, and fine art, Haapasaari has a background in glass and has been developing ways to integrate traditional craft processes such as glassmaking into the production of moving image projects. In 2021 Haapasaari received a PhD from the University of Sunderland, and before that an MA from the Royal College of Art (2014), and a BA from the Aalto University (2012). Haapasaari shows her work globally in exhibitions and festivals. She represented Finland in the European Glass Context in 2021 with Light Keeper, an experimental feature film she produced in 2020. The feature recently also received an Honorable Mention at the Experimental Forum (2021), won the experimental film category in the Polish International Film Festival (2020), and Haapasaari was nominated in the Best Director category for her work with Light Keeper at the Alternative Film Festival Toronto (2020).