The world’s first empathy artist Enni-Kukka Tuomala has adopted the role of ‘Election Artist‘ for the 2023-24 election cycle. As the Election Artist Tuomala will document the pre-election conversations, campaigns, encounters and experiences, investigating the role of empathy in political culture and dialogue and examining the current state of Western democracy and electoral systems through the lenses of art and empathy at a critical turning point for the world, and the planet. The collected material will be shared as an archive and used to create a series of new artworks.
Tuomala is currently touring the USA, visiting swing states before and after the Presidential Election on 5 November. Her journey as the Election Artist began in 2023 in her native Finland in the lead up to the Finnish Parliamentary Election 2023 on 2 April 2023 and the Finnish Presidential Election 2024 28 January-11 February 2024. Recently her journey continued across Europe in the lead up to the EU Parliamentary Election 2024 on 9 June and across her home country the UK before the General Election 2024 on 4 July. Follow her journey on here and on Instagram @ennikukka.studio #electionartist.
