B Is for Blood: Nastja Säde Rönkkö in Conversation With Gemma Rolls-Bentley

Biographies

Nastja Säde Rönkkö is an artist working with video, performance, installation and text. Her projects investigate the relationship between the digital era, power, humanity and the future of our planet. She is particularly fascinated with how concepts such as love, slowness, or affection can be silent yet radical ways to be and act in the world. Her practice dreams about the future and explores presence through politics and poetics of emotion. Rönkkö has exhibited and performed internationally, with recent exhibitions at Somerset House, London and the Louisiana Museum, Denmark. She is the recipient of the Below Zero Art Prize (2023).

Gemma Rolls-Bentley has been at the forefront of contemporary art for almost two decades, working passionately to champion diversity in the field. Her debut book Queer Art; From Canvas to Club and the Spaces Between was published in Spring 2024 by Frances Lincoln and has been highlighted as a must-read by Them, Dazed, Timeout, The Guardian, Cultured and the FT. Gemma’s curatorial practice amplifies the work of female and queer artists and provides a platform for art that explores LGBTQIA+ identity. She has curated for a range of international galleries and institutions and has taught at numerous institutions.

Arly Bean is a curator and producer specialising in queer performance, installation and design. Their practice focuses on the intersections of art and ecology and supporting neurodivergent artists to thrive. They are the co-founder and former co-director of ]performance s p a c e [ and currently work as the Galleries Curator for University for the Creative Arts.

Finnish Institute in the UK and Ireland supports the internationalisation of Finnish and Finland-based artists, researchers and social actors. As the leading expert on Finnish culture and society, the Institute enables societal change through art and culture, empowering diverse perspectives and fostering a more inclusive cultural landscape for all. Founded in 1991, the Institute is a non-profit, private foundation funded by the Finnish Ministry of Education and Culture.