Sami Petri Itavuori (he/they) is a Finnish-British researcher and cultural programer based in London, UK. He holds a BA in European and German Studies from King’s College London and a MRes in Art Theory and Philosophy from the University of the Arts London. They have previously worked in a research and technical capacity, producing exhibitions for the Barbican Centre and Lightroom King’s Cross. Previous projects have included AI: More than Human (2019), Virtual Realms (2020), Our Time on Earth (2022) and David Hockney: Bigger and Closer, Not Smaller and Further Away. (2023)
Interested in the politics of representation, technology and culture, Sami’s practice-oriented research explores the implications of digital and networked technologies on visual culture, museum practices and audience engagement in a post-globalisation context. Their current collaborative PhD project “Generative AI and the Art Museum: The Tate Online Collection of British Art, Audiences and Visuality.” (CSNI/Royal College of Art/Tate) assesses the effects of text-to-image generative AI on art museums and their digital collections.
Their research is informed by their experience in community-centering cultural projects that aim to promote alternative pedagogies, skill-sharing, self-learning and user autonomy at the intersection of art and digital literacy. He is currently on the board-nominating committee of Swedish not-for-profit cultural association Anrikningsverket and works on the production group of the experimental music and arts festival Norbergfestival. They have previously been involved with Deptford Community Cinema and the queer choreography collective SWARM.