Suo, Silent, Disco

Why do we keep on getting stuck? Suo, Silent, Disco is a piece that combines traces of the rare, typical and controversial Finnish suo (swamp, bog or peatland) into a light-hearted physical experiment. Participants are invited to share the playful and audiovisual space of the sticky unknown.

Swamp landscape
Meme Korhonen and Alina Pajula

My rubber boot got stuck in a sticky landscape. It was a warm and gentle summer day. Numerous birds and small insects were inhabiting this place, as I, just a visitor, waded through the unknown. My ears were tickling from buzzing sounds. I kept on going, I kept on getting stuck. I was terrified since I had been told not to come here alone. I took a break and sat on a tussock. The scent of marsh tea was surrounding me. Suddenly, a pine cone fell onto the ground. I wondered how long it would take for it to decompose and come together with different bodies of flora and fauna. There was something unknown brewing under the surface.

Suo, Silent, Disco was created through different experiences and notions of suo landscapes, which cover almost one third of Finland’s land area. Although the piece approaches the theme from a playful and heartfelt point of view, the cultural and political aspects of suo areas are controversial. Suos work as great carbon sinks, yet for decades they have been hugely under threat by draining and peat extraction. These human actions create vast emissions and injure the ecosystems. Knowing this, why do we still keep on getting stuck?

Suo, Silent, Disco is co-organized between Theatre Academy of the University of the Arts Helsinki and Aalto University School of Arts, Design and Architecture.

Working Group

  • Hugo Enkenberg (Degree programme in Costume Design / Aalto ARTS)
  • Lyydia Johansson (Degree programme in Lighting Design)
  • Ruusa Johansson (Degree programme in Design for the performing arts)
  • Aino Juutilainen (Degree programme in Sound design)
  • Mirei Kato (Degree programme in Costume Design / Aalto ARTS)
  • Meme Korhonen (Majoring in Costume Design (Aalto ARTS)
  • Pauli Kotilainen (Degree programme in Sound design)
  • Aku Lahti (Degree programme in Lighting Design)
  • Alina Pajula (Degree programme in Lighting Design)
  • Hilla Ruuska (Degree programme in Costume Design / Aalto ARTS)
  • Mikko Salminen (Degree programme in Design for the performing arts)
  • Timo Tikka (Degree programme in Sound design)
  • Ville Tolvanen (Degree programme in Lighting Design)
  • Joakim Udd (Degree programme in Lighting Design)
  • Outi Vedenpää (Degree programme in Lighting Design)
  • Aino Väisänen (Degree programme in Design for the performing arts)

The Prague Quadrennial (PQ) is the largest international festival of scenography and performance design, which takes place in Prague every four years. Its 15th edition will take place from 8 to 18 June 2023 in the Prague Market Hall in Holešovice. The theme of PQ 2023 is RARE. Suo, Silent, Disco is part of the PQ´s Student exhibition.

Time

8.6.2023
18.6.2023

Location

Prague Quadrennial of Performance Design and Space (PQ) Location: Holešovice Market, Prague, Czechia

Holešovice Market

Bubenské nábřeží 306

170 00

Location on map

See directions