Free puppetry professionals in the Finnish capital region
Members
PERRINE FERRAFIAT is a puppetry professional who graduated from the Turku Art Academy. He works in visual theater as a director, performer, sound and graphic designer, teacher and thinker. In her artistic work, she strives to find and share the poetic, political and human content of everyday life. She reaches out towards people, their stories, their culture. Ferrafiat is an experimental creator who gets excited by extraordinary ideas, strong visuals and collaboration.
KATI KESKIHANNU is an artist specializing in trauma-sensitive theater work; screenwriter, director, performer and trainer. She also works as the artistic director of Kuroa Kollektiivi, which she founded and maintains. 2006 Kati graduated from the Turku Academy of Arts as a director of theater expression specializing in children's culture and family work and discovered puppetry while working on the theater field. Puppet and object theater is particularly well-suited for dealing with trauma topics, and a return to stage images without puppets is no longer fascinating. "Subjects that can't be talked about are perfect for the stage". Not all understanding is verbal, and for real encounters it's usually enough just to find a common "language".
MARIA-ELINA KOIVULA is a puppet theater artist, puppeteer, puppet maker, director, teacher, artist and author who graduated from the Turku Art Academy. In her artistic work, she especially explores the interfaces between our reality and magical reality. Puppet theater is the art of the moment, and that makes it especially unique. Koivula is a visual arts teacher by other profession, and has studied expressive art therapy. She also sees art as a healing and transformative element.
MIRA LAINE Puppetry artist, director and screenwriter as well as puppet and mask maker. Also works as a theater arts teacher. In her works, Laine has dealt with climate change, human trafficking and miraculous machines, and combined animation and contemporary dance with puppet theater expression. Interested in the twisted role changes and metamorphoses of objects and bodies and the fusion of bodies, spaces and objects and the study of otherness and unity against these backgrounds.
ELINA LAJUNEN graduated as a puppeteer from the Turku Academy of Arts and as an actress from the École Internationale de Theater Jacques Lecoq in Paris. She works as a director, screenwriter and performer and often combines puppet theatre, live music and physical theater in her work. Her own group is Puppet Government. The members of the group change according to the projects. Lajunen has directed works for, among others, Espoo City Theatre, Seurasaari Outdoor Museum, WHS Teatteri Union and Tanssi teatteri Hurjaruuth.
LINDA LEMMETTY is a puppeteer and physical theater artist who graduated from the Jacques Lecoq School in Paris in 2009. Lemmetty is a vagabond of performing arts who has worked in various ensembles in Finland and abroad. In her work, she does not follow or bow to traditions, but mixes and controls various forms of performing art versatilely, working with different techniques and genres. As a performer, the comedy and rhythm of life are her passion, and often under scrutiny in her work. As a doll maker, she wants to give shape, as a implementer of the craziest ideas.
ANNE LIHAVAINEN is a puppet theater artist who has worked as an actress at Teatteri Mukamas, Puppet Theater Vihreä Omena and Puppet Theater Sampo. Anne founded Puppet Theater Ofelia, her own solo theater, in 2006. Warm presence, visuals and strong stories are the backbone of Puppet Theater Ofelia's repertoire. In her own theatre, she is an actor, puppeteer, set designer, screenwriter, trainer and producer. Art education work and working with special groups is a particularly important part of Anne's work. Anne is also a member of the working group The Claimants. The group has made several multi-sensory art exhibitions.
MAIJA LINTURI graduated as a director of theater expression from the puppetry department of Turku University of Applied Sciences in 2010. Before that, she studied puppetry at Adulta Television and Radio College in 2003-2005. Her interests and activities are focused on multi-arts and visual theatre. She has collaborated with artists from different fields, both from the fields of drama theater, dance and video art. She identifies herself above all as a director, but also works as a performer and puppet maker.
ILPO MIKKONEN is a puppeteer, an actor who initially used puppets in his work as a kindergarten teacher. The magic and power of the puppet and the puppet theater took him away. After his education, he started working at Puppet Theater Sampo, where Ilpo worked as an actor from 1992. Ilpo founded his own solo theater Puppet Theater PikkuKulkuri in 2016. With its repertoire, he tours around Finland and has also participated in several international events, collaboration projects and festivals. Story, visuals, humor and music are important elements in the performances of Puppet Theater PikkuKulkuri.
MILA NIRHAMO is a puppet theater artist and art educator.
She graduated from the Turku Academy of Arts in 2014. As part of her studies, she studied for a semester in Berlin with the puppet theater line of the Ernst Busch theater school. Before studying puppetry, she worked as a kindergarten teacher, trainer and workshop instructor. Nirhamo has solid experience in guiding different groups. Nirhamo is interested in the various aspects of puppet theatre, performance, puppet making and directing. Teaching and community projects are also close to her heart.
ELENA REKOLA is a puppet theater artist who graduated from the Turku Academy of Arts. Their work combines physical expression, different hand techniques and politics. Elena has worked e.g. in the non-profit Bread and Puppet theater, worked as a puppeteer in the children's wards of Turku University Hospital and taught puppet manipulation to Fidea members. Elena is a performer, teacher and activist who is inspired by fast action, nature and direct communication.
MILLA RISKU works in puppet and mask theatre as well as illustration. In puppetry, Risku is fascinated by the opportunity to combine different art forms from music to visual arts. Interaction with the audience is also of great importance to her. Equal accessibility to art and culture is an important value for Risku.
JONNAKAISA RISTO is an actor, screenwriter and puppeteer. She is interested in grotesque musical puppetry. Jonnakaisa graduated from the University of the Arts Theater Academy (TeM2018), after which she has worked as a freelancer in the free field. In 2022, Jonnakaisa was awarded by Kritiikki Kannuks for her play Korhonen's portrait, which premiered at Finnish National Theater.
ERZSÉBET TAMÁS is a puppeteer and puppet maker. Original member of the Kaboca Puppet Theatre (Hungary), where she worked for 20 years as the lead actress in thousands of shows. Moving to the UK she started her own puppet theatre company. Erzsébet holds a BA degree in Pedagogy, and MA degree in Cultural Policy and Management. She also hold a diploma in Puppet Acting and Directing. Together with her partner Michael Kantola, they have now a Creative Culture Production startup Company focusing on producing children’s entertainment Live and Online, with the aim of providing high quality informative and educational content.
RIINA TIKKANEN is a performing puppet theater artist, graduated from the Turku Academy of Arts in 2011. Tikkanen has worked as a puppeteer, actor, clown, buffoon and mask actor in more than twenty different stage productions in the last five years. She has worked with several independent professional groups (e.g. Kuuma Ankanpoikanen and Teatteri Metamorfoosi) and toured with performances not only in Finland but also at several foreign theater festivals.
IIDA VANTTAJA is a puppeteer craftsman whose strongest skills are puppet building and visual ensembles. Writing plays is a beloved counterbalance to physical work. Iida has also directed numerous performances for children and adults, and through training, she does her part to ensure that the country continues to know how to build functional tools for performances. The aesthetic and ethical quality of the work are the most important value criteria. Iida works in changing groups and dives from task to task without prejudice. The application of puppet theater to special groups is also close to her heart.
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ANNA USCHANOV works as a painter and puppeteer. Playing with scale, stretching it or shrinking it, are an essential part of making performances for her. Feeling, exploring and combining different materials create different landscapes, material entities for her. In her works, Uschanov does not deviate very far from her own experience, but the themes of the works are often based on observations from everyday life.
HEINI VAHTERA has graduated as a theater expression director (YAMK) from the Turku Academy of Arts and specialized in the methods of applying theater from an artistic point of view. She works in the field of theater as a screenwriter, director and teacher. Vahtera is a founding member of the artistic theater group Nopean Tomininnan Naiset. Vahtera has delved into puppet theater in recent years and directed the first full-length puppet show "Angelika ja kuumat paikat" at Tehdas Teatteri in 2023. Vahtera's work is often characterized by black humor and social issues.
Producer
SELENE ABONCE MUHONEN is the producer of Metropolitan Puppets since September 2023. She graduated as a cultural producer from Metropolia University of Applied Sciences and has previously worked with contemporary circus. She has worked as a producer for several circus groups and events as well as at Cirko - Center for New Circus and is a founding member and producer of Pusu Circus Festival. With Metropolitan Puppets, she hopes to expand her skills to the field of puppetry as well. Performing arts such as circus and puppet theater are close to her heart and she feels that they play an important role in creating people's well-being and happiness.