Pavel Rotts (b. 1982, Petroskoi) is an Ingrian multidisciplinary artist based in Helsinki since 2015. His practice spans installation, performance, moving image, sound, and artistic research, engaging with histories of displacement, political violence, collective memory, and his own identity. Rotts holds an MFA from the University of the Arts Helsinki, presents work internationally, and is part of the artist duo SAHSAPASHA. He is also active in artist-led cultural initiatives and anti-war activism.

His work has been shown in solo exhibitions such as Climbing a Memory (Narva Museum, 2024) and Leave No Trace (Helsinki, 2021), and as part of SAHSAPASHA in venues across Europe, including the New Institute (Rotterdam, Netherlands) and Paradise Works (Manchester, UK). Rotts has participated in numerous group exhibitions and residencies throughout Finland and Europe, including the Joensuu Biennale MITÄ, Mänttä Art Festival (Finland), Narva Art Residency (Estonia), Pikene på Broen (Norway), and The Mirror Institution (Sweden). He has received multiple grants and awards, including the Finnish Cultural Foundation Artist Grant (2024), the William Thuring Award (2025), and project grants from the KONE Foundation and Oskar Öflund Foundation. Alongside his artistic practice, Pavel co-founded the anti-war initiative NO PUTIN NO, the KINO Club Helsinki, and the Shelter Festival.


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Projects

Uncle Joe Performance is based on records found during the trip to Belomorkanal in a big red package with a Joseph Stalin's portrait on the cover.
The Wooden Language In many languages, the etymology of the verb “to hear” links us to the verb “to obey”.
Leave No Trace This exhibition, Leave No Trace, is a part of the Climbing a Memory cycle. The title is linking to one of the important environmental principles in contemporary rock climbing. Being applied to the bombing traces in the city of Helsinki - how can we keep them as a part of the city landscape and not let them disappear?
Climbing Roots In phytology, climbing roots are roots that grow on the above-ground parts of a plant. They function as anchors, affixing the plant to supporting structures such as rocks and walls. Cover photo by Oilli Larjo
Climbing a Memory There are many places in Helsinki that still retain traces of World War II - scars of grenades and bombings. Do these traces have some value for collective memory? History without memory is as unreadable as a flat wall made of granite. There is nothing to hook on to.
Back to Petsamo We all have a childhood and sometimes we dream about going back there. History is an area where memory meets politics. Recalling Petsamo, I’m changing my viewpoint from an occupant to an immigrant, the scale from the collective to the personal, the intention from militarism to nostalgia.

Projects as SASHAPASHA duo (see more in SASHAPASHA section)

Penal Labour The project's main topic is the displacement of the Ingrian population during and after WWII.
Potato Island The potato, from Holland, was introduced to Russia by Peter the Great in the 17th century and then became a traditional Russian food. Russia suffered extreme starvation during WWII, and bread was made containing wooden sawdust.
Letters to the Past To address the past is an attempt to put the accelerating machine of progress on pause, to slow down and untangle.
Belomorkanal museum The Domestic Belomor Canal Museum draws together reality and fiction, private memories and official history, found objects and local souvenirs. A ball of red thread Ariadne traces in this labyrinth of meanings.
Go 围棋 Embroidery in the Gulag was a means of communication between the “zone” and freedom. Sea maps are embroidered on the caps representing sea routes of the “Gulag Archipelago”.
Black Swan Tires became a fuel for revolution. Filling the courtyards and streets, they channel this energy through peaceful means, making folk sculptures.
Drumming Head Drum into your head! Sound performance
Valentina Kozinets – The Letter D In 2018, in Sovpolye village we found the home of Valentina Kozinets, an outsider artist who died in 2016. Paintings and notebooks inside the home were doomed to be thrown away. We took the finds with us to preserve the artist's heritage.
ПАРАДНАЯ/RAPPU Rappu is an interactive installation that invites visitors to enter into a typical Russian apartment block.