Bird Collisions is a continuation of the long-term project Free as Birds . Over the past two years, Li has been moving like a migratory bird, exploring islands across borders, to explore how the bird functions as a cross-cultural symbol of “freedom.” In this project, visual elements and experimental sound work are intertwined. Through photography, video installations, and sound performance, Li develops a new, deconstructed “bird language” and, together with local communities, creates bird song choirs and a collective imagination of “becoming a bird.”
The new exhibition takes as its starting point the ecological phenomenon of birds colliding with architectural glass, questioning the concept of transparency. The natural instinct of bird migration collides with the invisible architecture of social structures. This tension reflects the seemingly transparent but rigid barriers that people encounter as migrants in systemic frames of reference. Li transforms the gallery space into a sensory field. Through vocal mimicry, collective and individual chanting, and communal storytelling, alongside bodily presence, sound, video installations, and experimental photography, the exhibition constructs a space that is both poetic and touching.
The artist and the Bird Collisions exhibition have been supported by the Saastamoinen Foundation, the Nordic Cultural Centre B28 residency, the Arts Promotion Centre of Finland (Taike) and Aalto Studios.
Special thanks to the contributors to the work: Ida Vu, Ricardo Baltazar, Branislav Dakovic, Safa Solati, Tangmo Ladapha.
Finnish-based multidisciplinary artist Tianjun Li (Timjune, CN/FI) combines lens-based media, experimental vocal expression, and spatial installations in her work. Using synesthetic translation and a four-octave sound field, she works on the correspondences between human and non-human actors into a visual and sonic interspecies storytelling system.
Li holds a Master of Arts degree from Aalto University’s Master’s Programme in Visual Cultures, Curation and Contemporary Art (ViCCA), with a minor in Sound in New Media. Her work has been supported by the Arts Promotion Centre of Finland (Taike), the Saastamoinen Foundation, Frame Contemporary Art Finland, the Finnish Cultural Foundation and an artist grant from the City of Espoo. She has worked at, among others, Saari Manor (Koneen Foundation) and the B28 residence (Nordic Cultural Point). Her works have been presented internationally in exhibitions, performances and installations. A new solo exhibition commission at Fruitmarket Gallery (UK), supported by the Finnish Institute for British and Irish Studies, will open in late 2026.
Finnish-based multidisciplinary artist Tianjun Li (Timjune, CN/FI) combines lens-based media, experimental vocal expression, and spatial installations in her work. Using synesthetic translation and a four-octave sound field, she works on the correspondences between human and non-human actors into a visual and sonic interspecies storytelling system.
Li holds a Master of Arts degree from Aalto University’s Master’s Programme in Visual Cultures, Curation and Contemporary Art (ViCCA), with a minor in Sound in New Media. Her work has been supported by the Arts Promotion Centre of Finland (Taike), the Saastamoinen Foundation, Frame Contemporary Art Finland, the Finnish Cultural Foundation and an artist grant from the City of Espoo. She has worked at, among others, Saari Manor (Koneen Foundation) and the B28 residence (Nordic Cultural Point). Her works have been presented internationally in exhibitions, performances and installations. A new solo exhibition commission at Fruitmarket Gallery (UK), supported by the Finnish Institute for British and Irish Studies, will open in late 2026.
