Minna Tarkka Lectures

M-Cult is pleased to launch the inaugural edition of the Minna Tarkka Lectures, a new annual initiative focused on discussing and debating the potential of art, media, and technology to participate in and shape current and future democratic societies. These yearly lectures and workshops will celebrate the legacy of M-Cult’s founder and long-time director, Minna Tarkka, honouring her groundbreaking work in Finland and internationally in the fields of media and art and their intersections with social, political, and technological developments over the past 30 years.

For the first edition, we are focusing on participatory media art and collective practices by inviting artists Tellervo Kalleinen & Oliver Kochta-Kalleinen, Trevor Paglen and Julia Nisperos & Wax Roldan from Green Papaya Art Projects to deliver lectures at the HAM Helsinki Art Museum. Lectures will also be streamed on M-Cult’s YouTube channel. In addition to these public events, the speakers lead workshops where they will share their working methods and research processes with local artists and other practitioners over cross-disciplinary fields of media and participatory art, activism, and critical research. These workshops are hosted by M-Cult and organised in collaboration with Aalto University, and the Museum of Impossible Forms.

M-Cult is developing the Minna Tarkka Lectures as an experimental public forum and learning initiative to showcase critical activities in the arts—facilitating debates on the artistic, social, and technological urgencies of our time. This initiative creates a platform to underscore the roles of art and media as active contributors to civil society amid severe challenges to democratic life. With this initiative, we invite you to join us in reflecting what kinds of media art and participatory practices are meaningful now and in the future.

Public lectures
Tellervo Kalleinen and Oliver Kochta-Kalleinen: Confessions of a Participatory Artist
In this confessional lecture, Tellervo Kalleinen and Oliver Kochta-Kalleinen ask why participatory art remains relevant today. An artist who involves people in the creative process needs a unique palette of tools, as many small decisions influence the dynamics with the participants. In their lecture, Tellervo and Oliver will shed light on their chosen approaches, openly acknowledging what they have learned through their mistakes as well.

Tellervo Kalleinen and Oliver Kochta-Kalleinen work across many mediums, including cinema, performance, games, and interactive art.

Julia Nisperos and Wax Roldan (Green Papaya Art Projects): Artist Collective Practices in the Philippines
In their lecture, Julia Nisperos and Wax Roldan explore the history of Green Papaya Art Projects from the perspective of engaged observers. They examine Green Papaya’s community-driven practices and its influence on the broader art scene in the Philippines. Nisperos and Roldan will share insights from their experiences within collectives, connecting past and present to reflect on how these observations shape their approaches to collective work.

Green Papaya Art Projects is an independent, artist-run space in Metro Manila, Philippines, founded in 2000.

Trevor Paglen: You’ve Just Been F*cked by PSYOPS
As AI-generated content, social media influence operations, micro-targeted advertising, and pervasive surveillance shape the visual culture around us, we find ourselves in an era of PSYOP capitalism — an age defined by manipulative influences designed to alter our perceptions, senses, and beliefs. This lecture-performance explores the history of covert military, intelligence, and technology programs that have laid the foundation for our increasingly surreal present.

Trevor Paglen is an artist whose work spans image-making, sculpture, investigative journalism, writing, engineering, and numerous other disciplines.

Full programme and workshop information at M-Cult’s website!

Minna Tarkka (1960–2023) was the founder and director of M-Cult. She had extensive experience as a critic, educator, producer, and curator of media art. Minna was establishing the first Finnish university curricula related to media art. She was one of the founding members of MUU Artists’ Association, and AV-arkki, the Centre for Finnish Media Art. In 2017, Minna Tarkka received the State Prize for Media Art for her pioneering contributions.