Social Portrait is a performance and an empowering art project where artist Katriina Haikala draws 1000 portraits of individuals who identify themselves as women. Social Portrait embraces diversity, equality and intimate encounters where the models are elevated, seen and accepted as they are. It creates a community by bringing together women all around the world.
The drawing takes a form of a performance. While Katriina is drawing she is not looking at the sketch at all – instead she looks at the model intensely.
Social Portrait – a performance by Katriina Haikala
February 25th (Mon) – March 3rd (Sun) 11:00 – 20:00
Venue: Spiral Entrance (Spiral 1F), 5-6-23, Minami Aoyama, Minato-ku, Tokyo
Performance times
Feb. 25 (Mon) 11:00 – 13:00, 16:00 – 18:00
Feb. 26 (Tue) – Mar. 1 (Fri) 12:00 – 14:00, 16:00 – 18:00
Mar. 2 (Sat) 11:00 – 13:00, 14:00 – 16:00
Mar. 3 (Sun) 11:00 – 13:00, 14:00 – 16:00, 18:00 – 20:00
Free / No reservation required
Artist Talk: Strong Finnish Women
Thursday 28th February at 19:00 – 21:00, Spiral Room (Spiral 9F)
Katriina Haikala will discuss her art, performance and artistry with the director of the Finnish Institute in Japan Anna-Maria Wiljanen in Spiral Room (Spiral 9F) on Thursday 28th, February. The talk will be followed by an informal reception.
Free, please register for the artist talk by e-mail to info@finstitute.jp
Katriina Haikala: Social Portrait
Social Portrait project has been curated and executed in collaboration with:
Amos Anderson Art Museum, Helsinki, Finland 2017
Turku Biennale, Aboa Vetus & Ars Nova, Turku, Finland, 2018
Finnish Institute in London, London, United Kingdom, 2017
Taidehalli, Helsinki, Finland 2018
Social Portrait project has been curated and will be executed in collaboration with:
EMMA, Espoo Museum of Modern Art, Espoo, Finland 2019
Finnish Institute in Germany, Berlin, Germany 2019
Macro Museum, Rome, Italy 2019
and still more to come
BIO
Katriina Haikala lives and works in Helsinki, Finland. She graduated from Aalto University School of Arts, Design and Architecture (BA) 2016 and has worked as an independent artist since year 2007. Haikala has a successful career as an international artist and has launched highly regarded and socially impactful art and fashion projects like Monokini 2.0 which empowers survivors of breast cancer and challenges the aesthetic of high fashion and commercial culture, Dystopia/Utopia, a photography project that gives a voice to socially disadvantaged young people, and Hairy Underwear Collection, a bold in-your-face underwear collection that puts the hair we try to hide front and center.
In her work Haikala has explored crossovers between community and visual art, fashion, design and performance art. Her work emerges from norm criticism and passion to reveal prevailing power dynamics in society. She is especially interested in the challenges women face due to gender biases and addresses as well as explores the role of women in Western culture and in society. She produces works together with communities, with aesthetic interest and a critical eye on our social environment.
Katriina Haikala has been showcasing her artwork in galleries and institutions in New York City and Washington DC (USA), Tokyo (Japan), Berlin (Germany), Oslo (Norway), Stockholm (Sweden), Puerto Plata (Dominican Republic), St Petersburg and Murmansk (Russia), and in several other cities.Katriina Haikala’s tireless effort to change the world one mind at a time is not limited to practicing art. For the past nine years she has been a highly regarded university lecturer at Aalto University, a mentor for students in the University of the Arts Helsinki, and a coach giving high-end team building and development trainings to dozens of Finnish and international organizations. She truly believes in art being the essential element in societal change and an entity that enables communities to grow.
katriinahaikala.com