Lotta Kähkönen

they / them

I work as researcher (opens in a new tab) in Gender Studies at the University of Turku. My research focuses on trans*cultural production, activism, and narratives on experiences of trans and gender non-confirming people. In the Trans*Creative project, I chair the theme of violence that includes questions of how creative practices address and deal with different forms of individual, structural, and political violence against trans people and how violence affects everyday lives and social inequalities. I also act as the principal investigator of the Trans*Creative project.

Luca Tainio

he / him

I work as doctoral candidate in Doctoral Programme in Gender, Culture, and Society at the University of Helsinki. I have a background in different activist projects and in community organizing. I also work as the editorial secretary for NORMA: International Journal for Masculinity Studies (opens in a new tab). My research focuses on questions of trans vulnerability, embodiment, and affect, and addresses cultural production in the context of activism. In the Trans*creative project, I chair the theme of health, focusing on questions of embodied experiences in the context of not only trans-specific healthcare but also more widely in connection to wellbeing and creating livable lives in a cisnormative society.

Wibke Straube

they / them

I work as lecturer and research coordinator at the Centre for Gender Studies at Karlstad University, Sweden. (opens in a new tab) My research focuses on an intersectional analysis of trans and queer embodiment, affective methodologies, and queries into earthly survival and the possibilities to create zones of livability. I am responsible for the theme of environmental crisis, which asks how trans bodies are materially and socially affected by environmental pollution and ecological collapse and how trans and queer artists and cultural workers deal with these problems.

Kuutti Kiperä

she / her

I work as a tattoo artist in Tampere, having developed my skills over the past ten years. As an artist, I am an adventurer. I try to find new styles and techniques to create functional entities whether the image is small or large. Safety is important to me, which does not only mean hygiene and techniques, but also creating a safer space for everyone who enters my studio (opens in a new tab). Through my work as a tattoo artist, I have participated in various solidarity and fundraising events. In this project, I will do tattoo art, produce a photo series featuring tattoo art on the project’s themes, organize a tattoo event in Tampere, and collaborate in organizing workshops with artists.

James Lórien MacDonald

he / him

I’m a stand-up comedian and performance artist (opens in a new tab), originally from Canada but based in Helsinki for the past two decades. I am also a doctoral student at Tutke (opens in a new tab), Uniarts Helsinki’s performance research department, researching emotional work in stand-up comedy with a focus on minority comics. Through my own stand-up, I straddle lines between entertainment and activism in Finland as well as internationally. I also host and co-curate shows like Punch Up: Resistance and Glitter, combining queer drag, burlesque, and stand-up comedy, and The Attic Underground, a queer salon for new performance. I also occasionally run Helsinki’s Feminist Comedy Night as well as the Feminist Comedy Academy, teaching stand-up in a context that is intersectionally aware. In this project I will curate and run live events and workshops.

Mira Aurelia Eskelinen

she / her

I am a Helsinki-based performer, writer, and producer, with a BA in Film Production. I’m a founding member of Everykaikki collective (opens in a new tab). In my production work my main focus is on creating temporary communities, and building platforms for marginalised queer and trans artists to showcase their art and create new collaborations. As a live artist, I have performed under the stage name Miss Vinyl Envy (opens in a new tab) since 2015, creating short performances that combine drag, dance, rap, spoken word, and burlesque. My live works deconstruct and expand trans narratives, and carnivalise our society's rigid and absurd notions of gender. In this project, I will be filming and editing the interviews.