Katri Kauppala
Katri Kauppala (Master of Arts) is an artist-educator, whose own art revolves around the common interfaces between the maker and the perceiver. Through contemporary performance and performance art, Kauppala creates performance spaces that explore in different ways whether the viewer can, and wants to, become an experiencer and part of the work's formation.
Kauppala has worked as an art educator for over twenty years in various educational contexts. Kauppala has sought to internationalise her pedagogical vision by studying to become a singing teacher in Denmark. For her, seeing outside of common conventions and practices has been an important part of challenging normativity, as an artist and pedagogue.
Kauppala's postgraduate studies at the University of Lapland's Faculty of Arts focus on the ethical practices of art education. The research topic is the ethics of teaching when dealing with sexuality. Through art-based action research, new practices are created to enable ethical pedagogy in art education to address personal and challenging issues in art. Kauppala considers boundaries between art and the private sphere as a matter for each individual to discover.
At the heart of this research is the exploration of normativity and power relations, and artist-centred thinking. Through this research, art-based methods to resolve the conflict that may appear in the relationship between ethics and boundaries art seeked in order to protect participants' inner self. Does safe space challenge the possibility of bold art? If power relations between teacher and learner are dismantled, how then does the notion of responsibility change? How can different views exist in the same teaching space?
Kauppala has worked as an art educator for over twenty years in various educational contexts. Kauppala has sought to internationalise her pedagogical vision by studying to become a singing teacher in Denmark. For her, seeing outside of common conventions and practices has been an important part of challenging normativity, as an artist and pedagogue.
Kauppala's postgraduate studies at the University of Lapland's Faculty of Arts focus on the ethical practices of art education. The research topic is the ethics of teaching when dealing with sexuality. Through art-based action research, new practices are created to enable ethical pedagogy in art education to address personal and challenging issues in art. Kauppala considers boundaries between art and the private sphere as a matter for each individual to discover.
At the heart of this research is the exploration of normativity and power relations, and artist-centred thinking. Through this research, art-based methods to resolve the conflict that may appear in the relationship between ethics and boundaries art seeked in order to protect participants' inner self. Does safe space challenge the possibility of bold art? If power relations between teacher and learner are dismantled, how then does the notion of responsibility change? How can different views exist in the same teaching space?
Highlights from research publications
The Value of Sexuality: Penetrating Norms with Arts-based Action ResearchRelying upon feminist and queer theory, this article explores feminist pedagogy in art education practices. More specifically, the research investigates how engaging with sexuality and gender in education relates to the uncovering of social structures, power dynamics, and normativity. This arts-based action research dives into the praxis of the three-day course entitled Sexuality and Art with university student participants from degree programs in art education, graphic design, applied visual arts, and industrial design. By integrating values from feminist pedagogy, such as ethics, agency, contextuality, and the interconnectedness of individuals, art education can create equitable environments that challenge dominant societal narratives.
Kauppala, K. (2023). The Value of Sexuality: Penetrating Norms with Arts-based Action Research. Research in Arts and Education, 2023(3), 27–39. https://doi.org/10.54916/rae.130305 |
Detail of the first stage of the installation by the group in the classroom with the gradual addition of layers throughout the course. Photo by Katri Kauppala, 2023.
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Selected Publications
Peer-reviewed scientific articles, visual essays and book chapters
Kauppala, K. (2023). The Value of Sexuality: Penetrating Norms with Arts-based Action Research. Research in Arts and Education, 2023(3), 27-39. https://doi.org/10.54916/rae.130305
