Biography

Tianjun Li (CN/FI), also known as Timjune, is a Finland-based visual artist, experimental vocalist, and musician working across photography, video, sound, voice, performance, and community-based practices. Li works with synesthesia and an exceptional four-octave vocal range to create imaginative sonic-visual landscapes where more-than-human beings emerge as metaphors for socio-ecological realities. Li holds a master’s degree in Visual Cultures, Curating, and Contemporary Art, with a minor in Sound in New Media, from Aalto University.

Li’s artistic work has been supported by the Espoo Artist Grant; Saastamoinen Foundation; Frame Contemporary Art Finland; the Art & Tech Award by Aalto University and Genelec; and the Finnish-Danish Cultural Foundation, and they have been awarded residencies and fellowships, including the Kone Foundation’s Saari Residence (FI), Nordic Culture Point’s B28 Residence (FI), SIM Residency (IS), and Espronceda Institute of Art and Culture (ES), and Island Connect (EU) , E75 Art Bus project by MUU Helsinki Contemporary Art Centre and European Capital of Culture Oulu.

Their works have been exhibited and performed internationally. Their upcoming solo exhibitions will be held at Nykyaika Photographic Centre (FI) and Forum Box (FI) in 2026.

Artistic project

The project is an interdisciplinary exploration of the parallel journeys of birds and humans through images, video, the human voice, and collective performances. It examines the human association of birds with freedom and observes how contemporary realities of displacement, restricted mobility, and environmental devastation affect this concept. 

After developing the work across multiple islands in Europe following the trajectory of migratory birds, the project returns to Suomenlinna, where the initial work began in 2024. One significant strand of experiments involves the dialogue between AI language models and the human voice. In these chapters, local birdsongs are translated into speculative bird languages. These languages are then reinterpreted and performed through vocal practices to collaboratively reimagine the experience of being free as birds in the form of Bird Song Choirs. 

New works will be developed with the voice and body, which aim to rethink human resonance in connections that extend beyond the human realm.

Format: performance

Size of audience: 10-100 people 

Specific location: indoor space (black box, alternative spaces; echoing hall...) and outdoor spaces (forest, seaside or anything is possible)

Timing/duration: 15 - 20 minutes