Marita Liulia (born 27 October 1957 in Perho, Finland) is a visual artist working primarily in interactive multimedia. Her debut CD-ROM Maire (1994) was among the first works of art published in this format in the world. Her production includes multi-platform media artworks, photography, paintings, short films, books and stage performances. Her works have been exhibited and performed in 50 countries and she has received numerous international awards. Liulia first became interested in photography, painting, experimental film and cultural history while studying at Savonlinna Upper Secondary School of Art and Music. She continued her artistic studies at the University of Art and Design Helsinki, and broadened her horizons also by studying aesthetics, literature and political history at the University of Helsinki, graduating with a Bachelor of Arts in 1986.
Liulia lives and works in Helsinki and Heinola, Finland. She is the owner and director of Medeia Ltd., a production company founded in 1997 which distributes her art and design works worldwide.
Marita Liulia has received numerous awards including Prix Möbius International, Prix Ars Electronica, Finland Prize and the Finnish Cultural Fund Prize for her achievements as an artist. She founded media culture competition Prix Möbius Nordica in 2000.
Artistic career
Marita Liulia's started her artistic career in the theatre and during the 1980s she experimented with many different art forms. In cooperation with lighting and sound designers Ilkka Volanen and Tarja Ervasti she created several installation art pieces (e.g. Bone and Wing (1985), Zenon (1985), Mummies (1988), Testament (1988)), as well as multidisciplinary artworks in different media formats (e.g. Daimonion (1988), 8 min. from the Sun (1987) and To Indonesia (1986).
During the 1980s Liulia worked in different professions, for instance as a photographer and journalist in Southeast Asia and North Africa. "Liulia, who is fascinated by Asian culture, says she doesn’t mind travelling. As a child, she suffered from a long-term illness that forced her to stay home. Now she's making up for lost time."
Liulia about her transition to large multimedia projects: "(In the) late 1980s I started to study postmodern and gender theories with great appetite and ended up combining my old skills to new ideas to new technologies. It was a moment in my life when I finished writing the concept of the Jackpot interactive installation in 1991. After discussing with technicians I suddenly realized there is no other way - I had to start to work with computers. I used computers in the 1980s already while making sound and light installations. By the early nineties I had started to direct a team of professionals. Production of large multimedia programs started." She further explained her choice of art form in 2005: "Interactive multimedia was a very welcome format for me, since I had most of the necessary skills for directing it. I thought the monitor is a small theatre where all magic can happen… I also like to work in a team and I have always been curious about new technologies, especially the possibilities they offer me as an artist. My favourite tools are a computer and a camera."
Liulia described her art in 2005: "I mainly portray contemporary people from many points of view and use various media platforms to reach different audiences. I'm a writer, a visual artist, but also a researcher and producer. In my versatile works I combine different art forms, research and technology. For me art is communication, and I use communication systems of today in order to make my art available for people in their different environments." Marita Liulia creates her multimedia art for a specific target audience: "I’m extremely interested in the people who use it."
In 2001 Marita Liulia returned to the theatre, with the collaborative works Manipulator and Animator, which were both created with musician and composer Kimmo Pohjonen.