Our work group was awarded the State Prize for Performing Arts for Huoneiden Kirja! From my part I’m dedicating this for all the sound designers and sound tech builders involved in the process. It was a huge effort we did together! Thank you Alma Rajala for the trust and thank you just everybody of the +150 people involved in making this! Kiitos Taiteen edistämiskeskus.

The independent performing arts sector in Turku demonstrated its collective creative power and collaborative abilities in August 2021. In a project entitled “Book of Rooms”, a group of more than one hundred artists transformed an empty building into a unique multisensory experience. The multi-artistic and immersive project inhabited the labyrinth of the former industrial premises from the closets to the roof and the courtyard, creating a multidimensional, mythical and impressive experiential journey through various forms of contemporary performing arts.

 

The project was inspired by a book of prose poetry by Saila Susiluoto from 2003. Like the book, the experiential art world of “Book of Rooms” was built in layers of 64 works or rooms. Each work was based on an associative interpretation of one of Susiluoto’s poems and created its own aesthetic and material stage world.

The playful audience relationship created in the work led attendees on a private, independent journey of experience to works ranging in size from intimate encounters to mass scenes.

 

“Book of Rooms” retained its ideological and artistic focus throughout the space. Thanks for this go to the core artistic and production working group that coordinated the individual working groups and the overall project.
Members of the core working group: Alma Rajala (artistic director), Johanna Latvala (scenography and visuals), Jarkko Forsman (lighting), Laura Naukkarinen (sound), Riikka Mäntymaa (costume design), Venla Luoma (audience experience and guide), Lee Lahikainen (movement), Maria Laitila (public outreach), Maiju Tainio (coordinator of butlers, Pia Puustelli (marketing and communications) and Sara Koiranen (production).