DR HEE SOOK LEE-NIINIOJA is AN ARTIST/DESIGNER/JOURNALIST/SCHOLAR.
BORN IN SOUTH KOREA, she received A BA DEGREE IN JOURNALISM AT EWHA WOMAN'S UNIVERSITY IN HER COUNTRY, SHE BECAME AN ASIAN PIONEER IN SCANDINAVIA - NORWAY (1975) - TO STUDY FINE ART/DESIGN AT THE NORWEGIAN NATIONAL COLLEGE OF ART AND DESIGN, OBTAINING A BA AND A MA. SHE CONTINUED ANOTHER MA IN VISUAL COMMUNICATION AT SYRACUSE UNIVERSITY (USA), WHILE HER PHD WAS IN ARCHITECTURE AT OXFORD BROOKES UNIVERSITY (UK).
SHE HELD MANY EXHIBITIONS, TITLED “HOMAGE TO GOETHE/GOETHE IN ME” ACROSS THE GLOBE. MOREOVER, SHE VOLUNTEERED FOR HUMANITARIAN WORK AT SEVERAL PLACES, SUCH AS PRISONS, HOSPITALS, SCHOOLS, TSUNAMI VICTIMS (2004) AND NGOS, IN ADDITION TO LECTURING AT DIFFERENT UNIVERSITIES/INSTITUTES DURING HER RESIDENCE ABROAD AS A MEMBER OF THE FINNISH DIPLOMATIC CORPS. SHE PUBLISHED NUMEROUS ARTICLES IN NEWSPAPERS, MAGAZINES, JOURNALS AND BOOKS, AND PRESENTED ACADEMIC PAPERS IN VARIOUS DISCIPLINES AT INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCES AND SYMPOSIUMS.
FOR HER INTERCULTURAL AND HUMANITARIAN WORK, SHE RECEIVED MANY AWARDS AND APPRECIATION, INCLUDING THE ORDER OF CIVIL MERIT MEDAL FROM PRESIDENT KIM DAE JUNG OF SOUTH KOREA, AND MINISTRIES, UNIVERSITIES, AND NGOS BOTH IN KUWAIT AND IN INDONESIA.
DR. LEE-NIINIOJA SPECIALISED IN “CREATIVE BUT LOGICAL IN THINKING”, “TEXT-IMAGE RELATIONSHIP”, “COMPARISON BETWEEN HINDU-BUDDHIST/CHRISTIAN/ISLAMIC ARCHITECTURAL ORNAMENTATION”, "CULTURAL HERITAGE", AND “SCANDINAVIAN DESIGN”, HOPING TO ENHANCE DIALOGUES BETWEEN DIFFERENT FAITHS/RELIGIONS THROUGH THE COMMONNESS IN CULTURE AND ART IN CURRENT CONFLICTED SOCIETIES.
SINCE HER RETURN TO FINLAND IN 2007, SHE HAS BEEN WORKING WITH RESEARCH, ARTWORK, JOURNALISM AND BOOK PROJECTS, IN ADDITION TO THE ACTIVITIES OF THE INTANGIBLE CULTURAL HERITAGE COMMITTEE (ICOMOS-NORWAY, ICOMOS-ICICH PRESIDENT), WAMU-NET, AND OTHER INTERNATIONAL ORGANISATIONS.