FI

Rituaalikiska on performanssiseremonia, johon juuri Sinä olet tervetullut – vakaumuksestasi riippumatta. Rituaalikiska tarjoilee ruumiin ja sielun taajuuksia kutittelevia rituaaleja, kolmen itseoppineen pakanapapin tarjoilemana.

“En ole pappi, en shamaani. Minulla ei ole kykyä hoitaa ketään, mutta tästä voi olla sinulle apua.”

Rituaalikiska on Kulttuurikomppania Eloan & Pohjois-Karjalan kansantetteri Pokan yhteistyöprojekti.

Työskentelen Rituaalikiskassa äänisuunnittelijana sekä pakanapappina yhdessä Veera Snellmanin ja Sanna Kärkkäisen kanssa.

EN

Rituaalikiska (Ritual kiosk) is a performance ceremony to which you are warmly welcomed – regardless of your beliefs. Rituaalikiska offers rituals that gently tease the frequencies of body and soul, served by three self-taught pagan priests.

“I am not a priest, not a shaman. I have no ability to heal anyone, but this might be of help to you.”

Rituaalikiska is a collaborative project between Kulttuurikomppania Eloa and the Pohjois-Karjalan kansanteatteri Pokka.

I work in Rituaalikiska as a sound designer as well as a pagan priest, together with Veera Snellman and Sanna Kärkkäinen.

Juhannuspuuro (Midsummer Porridge) is a musical concoction by Tatu Ahola and Onni Toikka that will cure the participants seasonal depression. Using the means of music and ritual, the performance explores traditions associated with Midsummer, bringing the fertile power of midsummer into the heart of winter.

Juhannuspuuro had its first performance in the contemporary art festival Epäajankohtaisen taiteen festivaali in December 2024.

Photo: Karoliina Gavrilov

The music in this performative piece is made up of folk songs and reneissance dance music arranged by Ahola and Toikka for a cello-violin duo, improvisation and screaming. As the performance progresses and the atmosphere thickens, the musical landscapes expand, the volume increases, and the range of instruments grows.

During the performance, the audience is served a midsummer porridge rich with oxytocin, dopamine, midsummer warmth, and love, cooked to perfection. This connects to a Karelian tradition, where porridge prepared on Midsummer Eve was offered on a fieldstone to ensure a bountiful harvest.

Photo: Onni Toikka

JOS is a collective of three north karelian artists: dancer Sanna Hirvonen, psychologist, eco-emotion expert and doctoral candidate Juni Sinkkonen and the undersigned. The collectives work explores the impact of places wounded as a result of human activity on the formation of local identities and the sense of belonging.

Their latest work, Paikasto, draws its inspiration from author Trebbe Johnson’s Radical Joy for Hard Times method, the embodiment of landscape, and the power of poetry to envision the world differently. Paikasto is a semi-site-specific work combining music, movement and poetry. The piece was first performed in Penttilänranta, Joensuu on 25th August 2024 in an empty piece of land left behind by a burned down sawmill. The first performance was supported by a culture grant by the city of Joensuu.

Hiihtäjät, co-production Laura Kaljunen ja työryhmä & Vääräpyörä ry

Hiihtäjät is a tragicomic, magical realistic play about grief, fear and cross country skiing premiered on 24th of February 2024 in Pakkahuone, Joensuu, Finland.

Actor (roles of Peetu and ???), musician.

Photo: Jenni Katajisto

Squad
Original manuscript: Suvi Laaninen
Director and adaptation of text: Laura Kaljunen
Actors: Jonna Kuittinen, Suvi Laaninen, Onni Toikka
Sound design: Julius Jämsén
Violin: Onni Toikka
Movement dramaturgy consultation and workshop: Tiia-Mari Mäkinen

The piece has been supported by Taike (Arts Promotion Centre Finland), Aino ja Olla Teräsvuoren säätiö, the city of Joensuu and Kindly Studio.

Ankara Pakara is my alter ego and shame liberation/radical empathy/ sound art project.

Ankara Pakara is fiercly empathic towards himself, others and all creative ideas. Ankara Pakara performs mainly electronic music, recently he has been seen playing a lamp.

Through this project I advocate the promotion of authentic self-expression as a catalyst for personal and societal transformation. “For most of my adult life I have felt inordinate amounts of shame about who I am and for not cutting my fence and doing the snow work in due time like my neighbours. I have hesitated to express myself fully and rather conformed to the expectations of others without even realizing it.”, Ankara Pakara says. “This journey is about finding the courage to be vulnerable, to rewrite my story with kindness and acceptance.”

“Shame can serve as a valuable guide when it leads us to reflect on our moral choices and behavior. When channeled constructively, shame can inspire growth and positive change, motivating us to strive for greater integrity and empathy in our interactions with the world.”, he continues. “However, I have been self-less due to excess shame. I have had no self, my self has drifted from my body.”

Inspirations: Tunteella – häpeä (Emilia Kujala 2020), research by Anna Ramstedt about emotional abuse in classical music.

Viulumiehet is a folk music and schlager band and project that plays in gas stations at lunch time. It’s members are Einari Kärnä (violin, vocals) and Onni Toikka (violin, vocals, electronics).

Viulumiehet participated in “The Dream Year of Culture” project by the city of Joensuu in 2023 with a concert tour around Northern Karelia playing arrangements of Karelian folk songs for two violins, two singers and electronics.

Contact: viulumiehet@gmail.com