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Kemiönsaari Lab workshops for artists to begin

In spring 2024, Taike is organising a series of workshops in Kemiönsaari aimed at increasing the production skills of artists. These free-of-charge workshops will be held at Kulturhus Björkboda and are primarily intended for local artists. In addition, artists will have the opportunity to participate in the pitching webinar in April.

The workshops will prepare participants for a Pecha Kucha event to be held in June. At the event, artists will present their art in accordance with the Pecha Kucha format to financiers, sponsors, partners and other artists. Participation in the workshops does not require participation in the Pecha Kucha event.

Registration is not required for the workshops and webinar. The events will be held mainly in Finnish, but questions and comments can also be submitted in Swedish and English. Lisa Roberts will lead one workshop in English on how to document one’s own art.

Kulturhus Björkboda is partially accessible: further information about accessibility is available on its website at https://kubu.fi/info/.

This series of workshops is being organised by Taikerit, Taike’s regional development project for Varsinais-Suomi and Satakunta.

Topics and schedule for workshops and webinar

  • Thursday 21 March, 12–16: Workshop on documenting one’s own art and preparing visual presentations, Lisa Roberts and Tiina Puranen
  • Thursday 4 April, 14–16: Webinar on pitching creative value and collaborating, Elsa Ervasti. Link to webinar
  • Thursday 11 April, 12–16: Workshop on pitching, Katriina Haikala
  • Thursday 18 April, 12–16: Workshop on becoming a better negotiator, Lottaliina Pokkinen
  • Tuesday 7 May, 12–15: Workshop on social media in the work of artists, Milla Grönman
  • Thursday 6 June: Pecha Kucha event. Schedule and contents to be announced.

In addition, a coaching group will be formed for those presenting their own art at the Pecha Kucha event, and its meetings will be led by art expert Tiina Puranen. The schedule and contents of the group meetings will be agreed among group members.

Brief introduction to contents and leaders of workshops and webinar

The workshop on documenting one’s own art and preparing visual presentations will involve setting up a small photography studio at Kulturhus Björkboda. Participants can bring 1–4 of their own artworks to be photographed. The maximum size of each artwork is 2m², and they should be cleaned carefully before being photographed. The documenting theme will be presented by artist and producer Lisa Roberts, who can also be contacted if you need help transporting your works or additional information about photographing them: [email protected], 041 7502687.

Art expert Tiina Puranen will also be available at the workshop to give advice on preparing visual presentations. Those interested should bring their own laptop computer.

The webinar on pitching creative value and collaborating will provide tips through concrete examples on how to pitch your own art to potential collaboration partners. The webinar will cover how to structure a good pitch and provide examples of presenting your own creative and artistic work. The coaching is interactive, and participants can present questions to the coach.

Coach Elsa Ervasti (MA Theatre and Pedagogy, MA Theatre) has coached hundreds of professionals and artists in the creative fields in pitching their own skills and presenting creative concepts, ideas and creative companies. Elsa is also the author of the book Pitch! (Kustantamo S&S).

Link to webinar

The workshop on pitching will dive into the world of pitching through case examples and provide tips on presenting your own expertise, projects and concepts. Participants will write short personal introduction texts and get to rehearse their pitch in a safe and encouraging environment in small groups.

Artist development specialist Katriina Haikala is a multidisciplinary artist coach with a 17-year career in art, coaching and the intersection of the two. Her artistic work has been widely noted in both Finnish and foreign media, from the leading daily Helsingin Sanomat to the Huffington Post. In 2016, Olivia magazine named Katriina one of the 15 most inspiring Finnish women. In 2015, she won the Creative Business Cup Finland and represented Finland in the international Creative Business Cup. Katriina is currently working on the Mental Health Toolkit project at the Arts Promotion Centre Finland (Taike).

The workshop on becoming a better negotiator will discuss negotiating and the basics of negotiation skills. Through practical negotiation tips, you will get to know the negotiation situation, how to prepare for it, and what to do afterwards. In addition, you will learn how to act as the underdog in a negotiation situation. Through guided exercises, participants will get to test and identify their own behaviour style, and the negotiation situation itself will be practiced in small groups.

Lottaliina Pokkinen is both a lawyer and musician by education. She served as Head of Legal Affairs of the Finnish Musicians Union and is CEO of Lehtinen Legal Oy. She is the author of the book Artisti maksaa  – Neuvotteluopas luoville aloille (“The Artist Pays – A Negotiating Guide for the Creative Industries”). Lottaliina was interviewed for the Efter Nio programme in autumn 2023: Pelko. Miljonääri Nalle Wahlroosin suurin pelko on talous | Efter Nio | Yle Areena (at 34:30).

The workshop on social media in the work of artists will provide artists with the tools and inspiration to use Instagram effectively. Participants get to create content for their own Instagram account and work on their own social media calendar.

Milla Grönman is a social media influencer, photographer and social media content producer from Pori who gets excited about colours and people who blatantly do their own thing. Milla’s own social media content can be viewed on her Instagram account millagron.