Theme for TIP-Fest Talk 2026 is Community-engaged performing arts: the many roles of makers and audiences

  

Introduction of the panelists

 

Esa Kirkkopelto works as a professor of theatre art at Tampere University. 

His work focuses on research and its development in the field of performing arts, in collaboration with other disciplines at the University of Tampere. He is responsible for researcher trainingthe dield and teaches in the acting degree program. Esa Kirkkopelto is an expert in artistic research, performance philosophy, performer training, and continental philosophy. In the field of performing arts, he has worked as a professional dramaturg, director, performer, convener, facilitator and teacher since 1987. Esa is the founding member of the Toisissa tiloissa (The Other Spaces) live art group (since 2004), as well the International Platform for Performer Training (IPPT) network, since 2014

He established and developed the Performing Arts Research Center (Tutke) at the Theater Academy, Uniarts Helsinki, 2007–2017. He is also a member at the Society of Artistic Research. 

 

 

Katie Roberts is Executive Producer at Manipulate Arts, Scotland's development organisation for puppetry, visual theatre and animated film. Katie has been working as a Producer for festivals and theatre organisations for nearly 20 years in London, Vancouver and Edinburgh. She has worked for organisations including Southbank Centre, PuSh International Arts Festival, Edinburgh International Book Festival and Battersea Arts Centre.

 

Alma Rajala Alma Rajala is an original and multifaceted director and performer in puppet theatre. Constantly seeking new horizons, she combines puppet theatre with other forms of art. She has created her own theatrical language characterised by ambiguous images with a strong atmosphere, in which philosophy meets material and the human body. 

 

In one of her recent projects, she created the concept and was the artistic director for the monumental artistic production The Book of Rooms which took place in Turku in August 2021. In this show, a group of 150 artists was assembled to create an immersive, experiential, and spatial performance based on Saila Susiluoto’s poetical work of the same name. In 2021, The Book of Rooms was awarded the state prize in performing arts by the Arts Promotion Center Finland, and Rajala herself received the prize of the The Finnish Critics’ Association. 

 

Venla Luoma on performanssitaiteen ja nykyesityksen puolelta Lontoossa

ohjaajaksi valmistunut turkulainen paluumuuttaja. Venla on työskennellyt

is originally from Turkuwho and has returned home after graduating as a director in the fields of performance art and contemporary theater in London. Venla has worked in a variety of roles—as a director, dramaturg, teacher, and experience designer—in the independent performing arts scene for over 20 years. Venla has worked in contemporary theater, immersive works, and community art. 

For the past nine years, Venla has served as the artistic director of Tehdas Theatre in Turku.

Teatterin teatterinjohtajana.