Biography
Jani Nummela is a multidisciplinary artist and educator who works in various creative fields, including visual arts, music, and language. He is proficient in art and museum pedagogy, as well as contemporary art and queer studies. Jani's passion for art is not limited to academia; he has collaborated on numerous theater and dance projects in Portugal's cultural field, where he contributed as a graphic designer, composer, and translator. In Finland, Jani has exhibited his work in galleries and public spaces and is involved in pedagogical work.
Jani has a strong interest in nature and cultures. Surrounded by nature, he grew up in the small village of Ihode in Western Finland, but due to his father's work, he lived parts of his childhood abroad, including in Mumbai, India. Jani is passionate about environmental well-being, which he incorporates into his pedagogical work.
Education
Jani holds a Master of Arts in Art Education, awarded in 2022 from the Aalto University School of Arts and Design in Espoo, Finland. In his Master's Thesis entitled Found in Translation in 2021, Jani explored the relationship between gay culture and cinema. His primary academic interests revolve around cinema and contemporary art, museum pedagogy, and queer studies, which have also been themes in his artistic work.
Pedagogy
Jani has taught art-based techniques such as drawing comics and stop-motion animation and he has experience working in education within galleries, exhibitions, and museums. Currently, Jani works at the Espoo Museum of Modern Art, where he can share his expertise and passion for art and nature through pedagogical work, including environmental workshops.
Collaborations
Jani Nummela's creative expertise extends into various collaborative projects. Since 2018, he has contributed as a graphic designer, composer, and translator in around 20 theater and dance projects in Portugal's cultural field. Jani has worked in various cities in Portugal, including Lisbon, Porto, Guimarães, Sintra and Montemor-O-Novo.
Visual work
Jani worked as a graphic designer for the projects of Ballet Contemporâneo do Norte, including Re=iniciar (2022), an interdisciplinary gathering of artists from visual arts, philosophy, and performance, and O Melhor do Mundo (2021), a dance performance for children. The same year, Jani worked on Missed-en-Abîme, a performance installation by Rogério Nuno Costa. Jani's contributions to the project encompassed creating video projections for the stage and designing the accompanying book, Psicobiografia de um Herói Perdedor. The project graced several prominent Portuguese institutions, including art museums Serralves and Museu Coleção Berardo, and events such as the internationally prestigious O Espaço do Tempo's showcase PT.23 and Temps d'Image festival.
In Finland, Jani has exhibited his artwork in various galleries and public spaces. Notably, in 2015, he participated in the exhibition commemorating 100 years of Finnish art education held at the Kamppi shopping center.
Music
Jani has composed music for various projects, such as AGORA and EUROSHIMA (2019) by Ballet Contemporâneo do Norte and Multiversity (2021) by Rogério Nuno Costa. His musical style leans towards exploring unfamiliar scales and tunings, in the realm of microtonality.
Translation
Jani has translated texts for Lamento Imenso (2023), a multilingual performance at the New Theater Helsinki festival in Svenska Teatern, and Take My Breath Away (2023), a theater play by Ritual de Domingo shown at Teatro Viriato, Viseu.
Beyond work
Environmental well-being and nature are intrinsic values to Jani. Nature is everywhere, even in the city, and Jani finds observing plants, animals, and the changing seasons meaningful. He spends time with animals whenever he gets a chance. Jani is also interested in European history and cultures, especially from the perspectives of languages and cuisine. Currently, he is delving into Romance languages like Portuguese, Spanish, and Italian, as well as the Uralic roots of his native language, studying Estonian and Hungarian.
