Huone 45 - Room 45

Is a living installation created as a part of Huoneiden kirja - Book of rooms immersive theater piece in Turku in August 2021.

The creation was part of Turku City’s 10-years anniversary program as a cultural capital of Europe.

Huone 45 was an answer and metaphor for the poem 45 in the Book of rooms, and at the same time an attempt to simulate global warming. What happens when our cycles break between hot and cold, between the seasons and possibilities of vegetation and growth?

A half insect like creature creature, half human, goes in a circle between hot and cold, climbs through archaic own jungle and asks others to join to touch the last ices found.

Scenography consists of wood, grown plants that the performer. The whole preparation and manifestation of this room, its acts and actions are a ritual as much for the performer than for the one who experiences it.

Concept, sceno-choreography, videos: Riikka Kosola

Dancer performer: Satu Hakamäki (+Ilona Poncelet Kosola)

Production: Huoneiden kirja - Book of rooms, Kustavi Korps ry

Support: Arts Promotion Centre Finland, VAMO AS, BARKER Theatre

Huoneiden kirja - Book of rooms

A group of one hundred artists transforms an empty building and its surroundings into a multidisciplinary performance and art installation.

The voluminous piece is filled with poetry, theatre, puppetry, dance, music and visual arts. It is an immersive multi-sensory experience one steps into.

Huoneiden kirja (Book of Rooms) is based on a book of prose poetry by Saila Susiluoto. The abandoned, wind-battered house consists of 64 rooms – a number that equals the amount of symbols on a table that serves as a peculiar map for the building. The Book of rooms is an adventure that offers a break from the real world and a plunge into a fictive, yet equally tangible one.

The house lures one in, to wander and to explore the unknown and the unexpected. Like the girl in the book, every person entering the Book of rooms will ask a personal question from the house. And by flipping a silver coin, they will find out which one of the 64 rooms in the house willl – in its unique way – answer the posed question.

Every room is a world apart, intertwined to form a route drawn by the wanderer entering the piece. The performance invites you to follow a route, but also stray from it! No one steps into the same building twice. An exploration and an adventure lies ahead.

Artistic director:

Alma Rajala

Team behind planning and curation:

Johanna Latvala, Laura Naukkarinen, Venla Luoma, Maiju Tainio, Lee Lahikainen, Jarkko Forsman, Riikka Mäntymaa, Urmas Poolamets, Sara Koiranen, Sinimaria Tomperi, Pia Puustelli, Maria Laitila., Jesper Dolgov, Jenni Sormunen ja Jussi Virkkumaa.

Produced by:

TEHDAS Teatteri, Aurinkobaletti ja Aura of Puppets.