The closing seminar of the Audience Ambassadors project brought together audience engagement and arts professionals at Turku City Theatre in March 2026 to reflect on the role of audiences in contemporary art. Two articles based on invited keynote presentations at the seminar are now available on our website.

In her Audience Engagement Manifesto, Katja Kirsi examines audience engagement as an artistic, social, and community-based practice, reflecting on the possibilities that participatory approaches can open up in the relationships between art and its audiences.

Kaija Kaitavuori’s keynote address explores the role of audiences within the field of contemporary art and considers how meaningful relationships with diverse audiences can be built, and through which dimensions these relationships take shape.

The articles complement the body of publications and materials produced during the Audience Ambassadors project. Between 2025 and 2026, the project developed new ways of strengthening interaction between performance art, audiences, and local communities. The Audience Ambassadors website brings together keynote speeches, articles, methods, and reflections that share the ideas, practices, and experiences developed throughout the project.

Read the keynote articles:

– Katja Kirsi: Audience Engagement Manifesto
– Kaija Kaitavuori: Audience Ambassadors of New Performance Turku Biennale

More information about the Audience Ambassadors project and its publications can be found at www.yleisolahettilaat.fi