ELECTION ARTIST

I, empathy artist Enni-Kukka Tuomala, have adopted the role of the ‘Election Artist’ for the 2023-25 election cycle. In 2024 more voters than ever before cast their votes around the world, when people in at least 64 countries representing 49% of the world’s population headed to the polls. These elections will set the direction for our futures both as a people and as a planet. As the Election Artist I will document the elections across Finland, the EU, the UK and the USA to investigate the current state of Western democracy, the health of electoral systems, and the role of empathy in political culture and dialogue.

We need empathy more than ever before to solve the increasingly complex challenges we face both as a humankind and as a planet, and to learn to understand the experiences and perspectives of our fellow humans as well as other species and beings in a deeper and more meaningful way. At the same time research shows that the global empathy deficit grows rapidly at the same time as our trust in politicians and political systems is eroding around the world. As the Election Artist I will document conversations and campaigns, record encounters with both candidates and voters, collect material, and create new artworks as a response. 

I am currently on my sixth and final journey as the Election Artist travelling across the Kymenlaakso region in Finland, where I grew up, in the lead up to the Finnish County and Municipal Elections on 13 April 2025. I recently toured the USA, visiting key swing states on the route Arizona-Wisconsin-North Carolina-Pennsylvania in the USA before and after the Presidential Election on 5 November 2024.

I began my first ambitious weeklong journey as the Election Artist on Sunday the 26 March 2023 to visit every 13 electoral districts of Finland before the Finnish Parliamentary Election on Sunday the 2 April. My journey continued in 15th January-11 February 2024 re-visiting the 13 electoral districts during the Finnish Presidential Election. After Finland I extended my journey beyond Finnish borders to document the EU Parliamentary Election on 9 June 2024 and the UK General Election on 4 July 2024. So far I have travelled over 16,000km on buses, trains, ferries and planes across 7 countries, taken over 5,000 photographs, recorded over 100h of video and audio and conducted more than 320 interviews.

The concept of the 'Election Artist' is borrowed from the United Kingdom where I live and work. Since 2001 the Speaker’s Advisory Committee on Works of Art has commissioned an Election Artist ‘to create unique works of art which record each UK General Election, for future generations to be informed and inspired by.’ (UK Parliament) I believe every country and every election should have an election artist. Inspired by this tradition, I have adopted the role and taken it global to examine the current state of Western democracy and electoral systems, as well as the role of empathy in political culture and conversation.

As the Election Artist I do not subscribe to a specific political ideology or agenda, nor aim to advance the cause of any single party or candidate. My mission is only to advance the cause of empathy - to listen, learn and try to understand. On my journey I aim to meet with as many different parties, candidates, campaigners, election officials, voters and non-voters as possible, without favouring, judging or singling-out one over the others. I strive to create a safe and accountable space for discussion, and make no room for hate speech or discrimination.

The 'Election Artist' project extends my ongoing existing body of work and research investigating the relationship between empathy and power. The work began in 2018 with collaboration with the Parliament of Finland (Empatia Ele: empathy tools for politics, 2018-19), based on a unique partnership with a group of six elected Members of Parliament from five different political parties. You can watch a short video about the project here: https://youtu.be/wTNBK9pg-qc 

You can follow my journey on this website, as well as on Instagram @ennikukka.studio #electionartist