Four cultural and academic influencers selected to the next board of Uniarts Helsinki
Leevi Haapala, Jukka Kekkonen, Sonya Lindfors and Astrid Thors were selected to the University Board. The fifth member from outside the university community will be selected later this autumn.
The University Collegium of Uniarts Helsinki selected four members from outside the university community to the Uniarts Helsinki Board, and their term will begin on 1 January 2022. Altogether, the Uniarts Helsinki Board has seats for five external members. The Collegium will select one more external member to the Board later this autumn.
New members selected to the Uniarts Helsinki Board are Leevi Haapala, Jukka Kekkonen and Sonya Lindfors. Their term is four years and extends until 31 December 2025. Astrid Thors will continue serving as a member of the Board for a two-year term ending on 31 December 2023.
The Collegium made the decisions in its meeting on 21 September 2021.
External members selected to the Board on 21 September
Doctor of Philosophy Leevi Haapala (b. 1972) has served as the director of the Museum of Contemporary Art Kiasma since 2015. In 2014–2015, he worked as a professor in the Praxis Master’s Programme in Exhibition Studies at Uniarts Helsinki’s Academy of Fine Arts. He has also worked as a curator for Kiasma and as a researcher of contemporary art. Among other positions, Haapala is a member of the Ars Fennica panel and a board member for Kiasma Support Foundation and the Design Museum.
Jukka Kekkonen (LL.D. with court training, b. 1953) works at the University of Helsinki as a professor of legal history and Roman law. He is a member of the board of the University of Helsinki until 31 October 2021. Kekkonen has been a member of the Finnish Academy of Science and Letters since 2007. Kekkonen was the dean of the Faculty of Law at the University of Helsinki in 2004–2010. He has also served as a member of e.g. the International Association of Law Schools and as the chair of the Committee on Human Rights of the Council of Finnish Academies.
Master of Arts (Dance) Sonya Lindfors (b. 1985) is the founder and artistic director of the UrbanApa art community since 2010. Lindfors also serves as the chair of the UTT ry association, which manages the UrbanApa community. She has previously served as a member of the Arts and Culture Vision Committee of the City of Helsinki and the artistic advisory group of the Tanssin talo ry association, and she has also been the chair of the Street Dance Department of the Finnish Dance Organization.
Astrid Thors (LL.M. with court training, b. 1957) has served as e.g. Minister of Migration and European Affairs in 2007–2011, member of the European Parliament in 1996–2004 and member of the Finnish Parliament in 2004–2013. She has served as the vice chair of the Uniarts Helsinki Board since 2018 and the chair of the board of the University of the Arts Helsinki Foundation since 2019. In addition, Thors is the chair of the board at Pro Artibus Foundation for contemporary art and at the Arcada Foundation, which maintains Arcada University of Applied Sciences Ltd. She is also a member of the association Föreningen Konstsamfundet.
Other six board members represent the university community
The Uniarts Helsinki Board has a total of 11 members. In addition to members from outside the university community, the Board also has six members elected internally from the university community. Two of the members represent professors, two represent other teaching and research staff as well as other personnel, and two are students.
The Board’s professor members and members representing other teaching and research staff as well as other personnel will be elected through elections to be held in November. Uniarts Helsinki’s Student Union will select student members to the Board later this autumn.
Further information
Mika Virkkala
Chair of the University Collegium
050-384 3484