10.5. Club II
fin
The Night of the Isms
Fri 10.5. at 8 pm at Theatre House Universum, Helsinki
Tickets 30e / 15e / 5e / solidarity tickets
The Invasive Species Club, which started on Easter Thursday with the themes of death and despair, will continue in May with the themes of denialism and escapism. The ”night of isms” will explore the difficulty of creating an honest snapshot of the situation through a variety of existing and invented -isms. Speech sections will create different degrees of denialism and meander through fears of the ecocrisis and the resulting humanitarian crises, while music sections are composed from the eras and borders of different -isms. The evening will also seek to create an -ism or two to help operate with the horror of contemporary realism of the ecocrisis.
In the speeches, social psychologist Annukka Vainio explores behavioural change in the pursuit of sustainable development, artist-activist Alma Tuuva looks at power, poverty and outsiderism through social media art (e.g. @pikakahvimemegirl), composer Matilda Seppälä discusses the relationship between artivism and escapism, and researcher-activist Pekka Tiainen puts a post-Satan world into words and music.
Soprano Meeri Pulakka, together with harpist Maaria Pulakka, will perform music by Florence Price, Elfrida André and György Kurtág, among others, in an escapist atmosphere. Composer Matilda Seppälä also takes an artivist approach to escapism, perhaps in a way that is atypical of compositionism.
Kaukolampi, the electronic representative of experimentalism, will wonder how expressionistic minimalism is at its maximum.
Stina Koistinen, aka STINAKO, is sometimes silver-lined in her melancholy. STINAKO’s music can be listened to as honest sentimentalism.
Also starring: impressionism, capitalism, modernism, avant-gardism, absurdism, brutalism, protectionism, bullshitism, florism.
spoken programme
Annukka Vainio, speech
Alma Tuuva, speech
Matilda Seppälä, dance and speech
Pekka Tiainen, speech
music programme
Kaukolampi, electronics
Stina Koistinen, vocals and keyboard
Meeri Pulakka, soprano
Maaria Pulakka, harp
Eriikka Maalismaa, violin
Elfrida Andrée: Svanen
György Kurtág: Kafka Fragments, parts
Chiel Meijering: Slotkoor
Reynaldo Hahn: En sourdine
Claude Debussy: Nuit d’étoiles
Florence Price: Night
accessibility
Universum’s theatre spaces are located on three floors, with a wide lift and disabled toilets on the ground floor. The accessible entrance is located in the courtyard, so please let the theatre know in advance if you need accessibility assistance: liput(a)universum.fi
The club’s programme (speeches and songs) will be translated to Finnish and English. Translations will be made available to the public with separate instructions on site.
the artists
STINAKO
has recently decided to embrace multidimensionality as an artist and refuses to be confined to a single genre or style. ”Being an artist is a constant state of flux. Constant abandonment and creation. Bloody tiring and bloody wonderful. The ghosts of the past and the light of the future, or lack of it, are the main pillars of my melancholic music. Although this year I’m also releasing some hopeful songs – change is possible!”
Maaria Pulakka
is a harpist in search of their own voice, dreaming of a gentler world without knowing if they trusts its possibility. They are finishing their Master’s degree at the Sibelius Academy and is particularly interested in contemporary (art) music and sound art. Maaria drinks their morning coffee black while solving a crossword puzzle.
Kaukolampi
is a Helsinki-based experimental music artist and self-taught composer, producer and meta band leader. His goal and ethos is to destroy and re-create his musical output with every new project and release. In search of uncharted realms of music, Kaukolampi has given us projects such as K-X-P and Opel Bastards. These days he is mostly focusing on his solo art and film music.
Matilda Seppälä
is a composer/performer and an activist who often wants to inspire, experiment, confuse, move their body, argue, dismantle, enjoy and analyse. A colleague once suggested that Seppälä opposes everything on principle, but they would definitely like to correct that they oppose everything for a good reason, not on principle!
Annukka Vainio
is a social psychologist and Professor of Sustainable Behaviour Change at the Institute for Sustainable Behaviour Science (HELSUS), University of Helsinki. Vainio studies individual agency as part of the sustainability transition.
Meeri Pulakka
is a soprano who is pained by the injustice of the world, but wants to believe in the fundamental goodness of human beings. She is happy when she sings and when others around her are happy. In music, as in life in general, Meeri is inspired by working together and by sincerity.
Alma Tuuva
is an artist, activist and influencer with a background in journalism, whose work explores the emotions, power and possibilities associated with internet and social media phenomena. Her best-known work to date is her @pikakahfvimemegirl -alter ego on Instagram, through which she addresses issues such as poverty, exclusion and relationships.
Pekka Tiainen
is a researcher-activist and historical politician who fears defeat and believes in the sanctity of trying their best. For the club, Pekka is preparing a joint performance with Maaria Pulakka – a prelude to a post-Satan world in words and music.
Eriikka Maalismaa
and their violin are in a constant career and identity crisis.
Kaisamaija Uljas
is in a state of constant despair and rage, with or without their lute.
Elissa Shaw
is a producer for life, zigzagging through the bogs between hope and despair.