Who we are
Theatre of Dolls is an artistic partnership between Frida Alvinzi and Raisa Veikkola. We have been working together since 2006 and lived and worked for many years in London but are now based in Sweden and Finland.
We create 4-dimensional art pieces, using puppets as storytellers and our own bodies as sculptural landscapes, aiming to create the illusion that alternative realities are alive.
We create performances, textile art, films, static sculptural pieces and drawings. Weaving together found materials such as objects from nature, personal belongings, charity shop treasures with textiles, they sculpt layers to create collages as a base for narrative. Our work is all handmade and the time-consuming process of our labour aims to provide a transformative approach to life through material and making.
Our artistic practice centers on myths, fairytale, religion but also personal reflection and longing for the otherworldly. In our work we use art and craft to stitch together the real world around us with dreams and wanting to create feelings of longing for new possibilities and hope.
Theatre of Dolls has performed in galleries, festivals and events worldwide including the Barbican, Tate Modern and Victoria & Albert Museum. Our drawings have been shown in galleries across Britain including New Art Gallery Walsall and the Hayward Gallery.
Previous performances and exhibitions:
Spring 2025: No Strings Attached, The Embassy Collection, The Royal Academy of Bhutan, Bhutan
December 2024: Theatre of Dolls Exhibition, Pakilan Nukketeatteritalo, Helsinki
September 2015: ‘Enchanted Cosmos’, performance at the Royal Academy, London
September 2014: Department Of Culture, Neglinaya, Moscow
July 2014: Performance at the Somerset House, London
June 2014: Dolls of Love, St Pancras Old Church, London
November 2013: Horniman Museum, London
October 2013: Red Hook Works, Brooklyn, New York
September 2013: Festival Number 6, Port Merion, Wales
August 2013: Festival de Sottises, France
August 2013: Wilderness Festival, Cornbury Park, Oxfordshire
July 2013: Secret Garden Party, Abbots Ripton, Cambridgeshire
November 2012 – July 2013: Sutton House, London
October 2012: ‘Plate” at Herrick Gallery, London
April –September 2012: Misplaced Museum, Hall Place, Bexley
14th January 2012:Screening of ‘The Holy Dress’ film, London Short Film Festival at Rio Cinema, Dalston, London
13th January 2012: Screening of ‘The Holy Dress’ film, London Short Film Festival at The Hackney Picturehouse, Hackney, London
December 2011: A Christmas Cracker at Petersham Playhouse, Richmond, London
July 2011 – July 2016: Hayward Gallery Touring Exhibition: ‘Outrageous Fortune’
November – December 2011: ‘Anatomy’, Guts For Garters, Cob Gallery, Royal College Street, London
November 2011: ‘Ghosts of Gone Birds’, Rochelle School, Shoreditch, London
September 2011: Prince’s Trust Charity Gala, Petersham Playhouse, Richmond, London
September 2011: The End of The Road Festival, Larmer Tree Gardens, North Dorset
August 2011: Standon Calling Festival, Standon, Hertfordshire
August 2011: Galerie 8, Arthaus Building, 195-205 Richmond Road, London E8
July 2011: Retrospective performances at Bloomberg Summer Party, Borehamwood, Hertfordshire
July 2011: The Cob Gallery, Royal College Street, Camden, London NW1
July 2011: The Shoreditch Festival with The Barbican by Regent's Canal, London
July 2011: Benderspace, The Blue Market, Bermondsey, London
May 2011: Viktor Wynd Fine Art, Hackney, London
March 2011: Theatre of Dolls Retrospective, The Barbican Centre, London
March 2011: Tivoli Gallery, Waiheke Island, New Zealand
January – February 2011: ‘The House of Fairy Tales Story’, St John Street Gallery, London
November 2010 –January 2011: ‘Beast Royal’, Viktor Wynd Fine Art, London
October 2010: Tivoli Art Gallery, Auckland, New Zealand
January – February 2010: ‘The House of Fairy Tales Story’, St John Street Gallery, London
November 2010: ‘Puppets, Mobiles and Automata’, One Church Street Gallery, Great Misseden, Bucks
August 2010: Theatre of Dolls Solo Show, Viktor Wynd Fine Art inc, London
July 2010: Newlyn Art Gallery, Cornwall. UK
June 2010: The Oxford University Ball, Oxford
March 2010: Millenium Gallery, St Ives, Cornwall
February 2010: The Victoria and Albert Museum, London
December 2009: Twisted Christmas at Barbican Centre, London
December 2009: Ausform Platform at The Cube Cinema, Bristol
October 2009-January 2010: ‘The Exquisite Throve’, The New Art Gallery, Walsall, Birmingham
October 2009: Hendrick's Halloween at The Troxy, London
July 2009: Port Eliot Festival, Cornwall
June 2009: Glastonbury Festival, Glastonbury, U.K
May 2009: ‘Arte Povera’, Tate Modern, South Bank, London SW1
April 2009: The Fairy Tale Art Collection, The East Room, Tabernacle St, London
April 2009: The Good Friday Masked Ball, The Last Tuesday Society, London
February 2009: Hanging Ropes album launch party, The Paradise Bar, Kilburn, London
November 2008: The Halloween Masked Ball, The Last Tuesday Society, London
October 2008: The Yurt Project at Frieze Art Fair, Regent’s Park, London
October 2008: Zoo Art Fair with The House of Fairy Tales at The Royal Academy of Arts, London
September 2008: Gold 08 Festival at Shoreditch Town Hall, London
August 2008: Comfort Festival, Wales
July 2008: The Hat Shop Gallery, King’s Cross, London
May 2006: The Cultural Centre, Mazunte, Mexico
March 2006: The Lower Bottom Gallery, Oakland, California.
June-July 2006: Bookartbookshop, Old Street, London
Contact us
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