Roi Vaara is one of the most internationally recognized performance artists in Scandinavia. He was born in 1953 in Moss (Norway), but grew up in Helsinki, Finland, where he has caused constant controversy in the art world since the early 80s. His critical point of view is not to attract public sensation but to challenge the way we are looking at things.
Vaara studied in the University of Art and Design in Helsinki (1972-75) and went on to study in Jyvaskyla University (1976-77). He is one of the founders of Muu ry (1987), an artist-run interdisciplinary association in Finland and is one of the founders of IAPAO (International Association of Performance Art Organizers) in Essen (2003). Vaara has organized and curated performance events such as “Poikkeustila”, the first performance festival to gather artists from the whole of Finland together (1999). In 2001 Vaara organized the performance festival “EXIT” in Helsinki, which assembled about 300 artists from more than 30 countries. Vaara received a state award from the Arts Council of Finland in 2000 and the Ars Fennicaprize in 2005.
