MA from the University of Helsinki in 1996. Major in art history. Secondary subjects aesthetics and philosphy. Has been working as a teacher, lecturer, writer and as a specialist in art, design and antiques in the media as well as the art market. Has twenty years of experience of evaluating art, design and antiques and is now reflecting mechanisms behind the formation of prices. Interested in contemporary art, Northern renaissance, non-western cultures and Finnish early 20th Century design, especially the history of material imitations and substitute materials used in the 1940s Finland. Currently pondering two questions, inspired by earlier research of ceramic artist Michael Schilkin and marine painter Oscar Kleineh. What it takes from an emigrant or a refugee to be able to pursue and obtain status as an artist in a new homeland and foreign culture? How the relationship between art and tourism evolved in the late 19th Century Europe, as well as in late 19th - early 20th Century Finland. How cultural tourism of today is shaping the contemporary art world and our environment?