Helmi Järviluoma-Mäkelä (born 1960 in Ylivieska, North Ostrobothnia) is a Finnish sound, music, and cultural scholar and writer. She is a Professor of

Cultural Studies Cultural studies is an interdisciplinary field that examines the political dynamics of contemporary culture (including popular culture) and its historical foundations. Cultural studies researchers generally investigate how cultural practices re ...

at the

University of Eastern Finland The University of Eastern Finland ( fi, Itä-Suomen yliopisto) is a university in Finland founded in 2010 with campuses in Joensuu and Kuopio. History The Finnish Parliament passed the Universities Act on June 16, 2009, which, among other things ...

. As sensory and soundscape

ethnographer Ethnography (from Greek ''ethnos'' "folk, people, nation" and ''grapho'' "I write") is a branch of anthropology and the systematic study of individual cultures. Ethnography explores cultural phenomena from the point of view of the subject o ...

, Järviluoma has developed the mobile method of sensobiographic walking. Her research and art spans the fields of sensory remembering, qualitative methodology (especially regarding

gender Gender is the range of characteristics pertaining to femininity and masculinity and differentiating between them. Depending on the context, this may include sex-based social structures (i.e. gender roles) and gender identity. Most cultures u ...

), environmental cultural studies,

sound art Sound art is an artistic activity in which sound is utilized as a primary medium or material. Like many genres of contemporary art, sound art may be interdisciplinary in nature, or be used in hybrid forms. According to Brandon LaBelle, sound art ...

and fiction writing. Helmi Järviluoma was married to Finnish writer Matti Mäkelä (1951–2019). n Finnish

Early life and career

Helmi Inkeri Järviluoma was born in 1960 and went to high school in

Ylivieska Ylivieska () is a town and municipality of Northern Ostrobothnia region, Finland. It has a population of (), and it serves as the administrative centre for Kalajokilaakso and Pyhäjokilaakso, an area with a population of about 90,000 inhabitant ...

. She earned her Bachelor's (1982) and master's degrees (1986) from the

University of Tampere The University of Tampere (UTA) ( fi, Tampereen yliopisto (Tay), ) was a public university in Tampere, Finland that was merged with Tampere University of Technology to create the new Tampere University on 1 January 2019. The university offered un ...

folk tradition Folklore is shared by a particular group of people; it encompasses the traditions common to that culture, subculture or group. This includes oral traditions such as tales, legends, proverbs and jokes. They include material culture, ranging fro ...

, especially folk music, with strong emphasis on

sociology Sociology is a social science that focuses on society, human social behavior, patterns of Interpersonal ties, social relationships, social interaction, and aspects of culture associated with everyday life. It uses various methods of Empirical ...

. She continued to study

ethnomusicology Ethnomusicology is the study of music from the cultural and social aspects of the people who make it. It encompasses distinct theoretical and methodical approaches that emphasize cultural, social, material, cognitive, biological, and other dim ...

and completed her PhD in Tampere in 1997. Järviluoma had already joined the workforce of Department of Folk Tradition (later called Department of Music Anthropology) in 1986, and by 1992 she was a Research Fellow. In between, 1991-1992 she also worked as the first director of the popular music -oriented Institute of Rhythm Music in Seinäjoki. Between 1998–2005 she was attached to

University of Turku sv, Åbo universitet , latin_name = Universitas Aboensis , image_name = University of Turku.svg , motto = ''Vapaan kansan lahja vapaalle tieteelle'' , established = 1920 , type ...

as a Senior Assistant and Lecturer of ethnomusicology, working for

Academy of Finland The Academy of Finland ( fi, Suomen Akatemia, sv, Finlands Akademi) is a governmental funding body for scientific research in Finland. It is based in Helsinki. Yearly, the Academy administers over 260 million euros to Finnish research activities. O ...

as a Postdoctoral Research Fellow (1998–2001) and Academy Research Fellow (2004–2006), finished after one year in Autumn 2005, when receiving professorship in cultural studies in University of Joensuu (later:

). In 2016, she received a
Advanced Grant
of approximately 1,9 million euros from the European Research Council ERC, in order to study Sensory Transformations and Transgenerational Environmental Relationships, 1950–2020 SENSOTRA in the three European cities of

Ljubljana Ljubljana (also known by other historical names) is the capital and largest city of Slovenia. It is the country's cultural, educational, economic, political and administrative center. During antiquity, a Roman city called Emona stood in the ar ...

Turku Turku ( ; ; sv, Åbo, ) is a city and former capital on the southwest coast of Finland at the mouth of the Aura River, in the region of Finland Proper (''Varsinais-Suomi'') and the former Turku and Pori Province (''Turun ja Porin lääni''; ...

and

Brighton Brighton () is a seaside resort and one of the two main areas of the City of Brighton and Hove in the county of East Sussex, England. It is located south of London. Archaeological evidence of settlement in the area dates back to the Bronze A ...

From music and soundscape research towards the study of sensory transformations

Järviluoma is probably best known for her work in the field of soundscape studies. Decades of research on this topic culminated in the publication of Acoustic Environments in Change (2009) together with

Simon Fraser University Simon Fraser University (SFU) is a public research university in British Columbia, Canada, with three campuses, all in Greater Vancouver: Burnaby (main campus), Surrey, and Vancouver. The main Burnaby campus on Burnaby Mountain, located from ...

which sums up her four consecutive interdisciplinary, international soundscape research projects studying the changing European soundscapes. Currently, her research focuses on sensobiographies, as well as the themes of

mobilities Mobilities is a contemporary paradigm in the social sciences that explores the movement of people (human migration, individual mobility, travel, transport), ideas (see e.g. meme) and things (transport), as well as the broader social implications o ...

aging Ageing ( BE) or aging ( AE) is the process of becoming older. The term refers mainly to humans, many other animals, and fungi, whereas for example, bacteria, perennial plants and some simple animals are potentially biologically immortal. In ...

, remembering, technologies and dis-placement. Among her 180 publications, Gender and Qualitative Methods (2003/2010) continues to draw attention. She has written and directed altogether six radio features for Finnish Broadcasting Company

YLE Yleisradio Oy (Finnish, literally "General Radio Ltd." or "General Broadcast Ltd."; abbr. Yle ; sv, Rundradion Ab, italics=no), translated to English as the Finnish Broadcasting Company, is Finland's national public broadcasting company, founde ...

; three alone and two in co-operation with

Steven Feld Steven Feld (born August 20, 1949) is an American ethnomusicologist, anthropologist, and linguist, who worked for many years with the Kaluli ( Bosavi) people of Papua New Guinea. He earned a MacArthur Fellowship in 1991. Early life Feld was born ...

, and one with Noora Vikman.

Distinctions, awards

*The Finnish Union of University Professors selected Helmi Järviluoma as professor of the year 2019 in Finland *Järviluoma was selected as a member of the

Finnish Academy of Science and Letters The Finnish Academy of Science and Letters (Finnish ''Suomalainen Tiedeakatemia''; Latin ''Academia Scientiarum Fennica'') is a Finnish learned society. It was founded in 1908 and is thus the second oldest academy in Finland. The oldest is the Fi ...

in 2018. *In 2013 she received the Equality and Diversity Award of the University of Eastern Finland (UEF 2013) *In the year 2006, the award Aesthetic Act of the Year, was rewarded by The Finnish Society for Aesthetics to the project One Hundred Finnish Soundscapes, which was directed to Helmi Järviluoma.

Selected works

Järviluoma's publications include among others the results of a large interdisciplinary follow-up project, Acoustic Environments in Change (2009), and Gender and Qualitative Methods (Sage 2003/2010). She has, as well, between 2005–2017 written and directed several radio features, combining art and research, for the Finnish Broadcasting Company's Radio Atelier, and written a collection of fiction (short stories) Ja katsella hain hampaita nd to watch sharks’ teethin 2016. As a fiddler, she has played in bands such as Balkan music orcherstra Slobo Horo (1986—1989), women's rock band Enkelimankeli (1992-1998), and Säilyn pelimannit (2016--). * Helmi Järviluoma: Aspects of “Dis-placement” and Ageing – a Case Study in Musical Remembering. * Helmi Järviluoma: The Art and Science of Sensory Memory Walking. Marcel Cobussen & Vincent Meelberg & Barry Truax (eds.) The Routledge Companion to Sounding Art. London: Routledge, Taylor & Francis 2017, pp. 191–204. * Helmi Järviluoma: Acoustic Environments in Change. Helmi Järviluoma, Heikki Uimonen, Noora Vikman, Meri Kytö & Barry Truax. * Helmi Järviluoma: Gender and Qualitative Methods. Written by Helmi Järviluoma, Pirkko Moisala and Anni Vilkko * Helmi Järviluoma: Soundscape Studies and Methods. Eds. Helmi Järviluoma and Gregg Wagstaff * Helmi Järviluoma: From Manchuria to the tradition village: on construction of place via ‘pelimanni’ music * Helmi Järviluoma: Local Constructions of Gender in a Finnish Pelimanni Musicians Group * Helmi Järviluoma: Musiikki, identiteetti ja ruohonjuuritaso. Amatöörimuusikkoryhmän kategoria-työskentelyn analyysi. usic and identity at grassroots level. Analysing on category-work of an amateur music group.* Helmi Järviluoma: Yearbook of Soundscape Studies, Vol. 1 “Northern Soundscapes”, eds. R. Murray Schafer and Helmi Järviluoma * Helmi Järviluoma: Soundscapes: Essays on Vroom and Moo. Ed. Helmi Järviluoma * Pekka Suutari & Helmi Järviluoma: Finlandization and the Restriction of Karelian Voices at the Height of the Cold War * Helmi Järviluoma & Noora Vikman: On Soundscape Methods and Audiovisual Sensibility. In Gorbman Claudia, John Richardson & Carol Vernallis (Eds) * Helmi Järviluoma & Taru Leppänen : Becoming Audible! Asylum seekers, participatory action research and cultural encounters. Situating popular musics * Helmi Järviluoma & Airi Mäki-Kulmala: Folk Music and Political Song Movements in Finland - Remarks on "Symbolic Home-coming"

News

* Professor Helmi Järviluoma-Mäkelä receives Professor of Year Award * In English: A jack pot! Almost 1.9 million euro grant for a researcher at the University of Eastern Finland. Karjalainen, 15 April 2016 * In English: ERC funds unprecedented amount of research in Finland, in The Finnish Union of University researchers and teachers, 1 July 2016 * In English: Does a teenager born directly to the digital world sense the environment differently from the one that was born before it? The issue is covered by a two million euro grant in

Helsingin Sanomat ''Helsingin Sanomat'', abbreviated ''HS'' and colloquially known as , is the largest subscription newspaper in Finland and the Nordic countries, owned by Sanoma. Except after certain holidays, it is published daily. Its name derives from that of ...

2 December 2016 * In English: Helmi Järviluoma-Mäkelä: The soundscape is a tourist attraction for Finland 29 January 2017. * In English: Generations Live inside Their Own Bubbles - Does culture move from one generation to another?https://www.karjalainen.fi/uutiset/uutis-alueet/maakunta/item/195914 Sukupolvet elävät omissa kuplissaan - vieläkö kulttuuri siirtyy sukupolvesta seuraavaan? in Karjalainen news paper 27 September 2018.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Järviluoma, Helmi 1960 births Living people Finnish ethnographers Finnish musicologists Finnish women musicologists People from Ylivieska Academic staff of the University of Eastern Finland University of Tampere alumni Members of the Finnish Academy of Science and Letters