Anniversary of the Great Fire of Turku next weekend

On 4 September 2011, 184 years will have passed since the Great Fire of Turku, the largest urban fire in the Nordic region. On the anniversary weekend, the Capital of Culture will offer a programme related to the fire and challenge you to ponder the significance of the catastrophe.

The two-part artwork by choreographer Marjo Kuusela will include the In Full Blaze dance performance at Turku Summer Theatre and the Engagement Celebration dance event at the Luostarinmäki Handicrafts Museum. In Full Blaze uses the elements of fire and ash, water and earth to depict what happened when the fire spread from the burning poor quarters across the River Aura. The performance will feature dancers from the AB Dance Company and Turku Arts Academy. Engagement Celebration will bring everyday life from 1827 to the Luostarinmäki Handicrafts Museum. The performance will feature folk dancers, musicians and contemporary dance professionals. The audience will be taken on a guided tour through the event – and can take part in a wild dance while they’re at it.

The Fire! Fire! exhibition at Logomo will provide guided tours delving deep into the Great Fire of Turku. The tours will ponder what the fire meant for Turku, where it started and how Turku got back on its feet after the catastrophe. In addition to the tours, visitors may attend a workshop at the exhibition.

There will also be an addition to the Fire! Fire! exhibition, as a work of art depicting the fire, received by the Museum Centre of Turku as a donation, is displayed at Logomo. This silhouette artwork by C. W. Wiberg, probably completed soon after the Great Fire, was donated to the Museum Centre of Turku’s collection by a private individual. Exhibited publicly for the first time, this contemporary depiction of the fire is of great cultural-historical interest and will be on display at Logomo for the rest of the autumn.

In the Main Library’s Studio, Professor of Cultural History Hannu Salmi from the University of Turku will lecture in Finnish on the Great Fire of Turku from the citizens’ viewpoint. Salmi will deal with the Great Fire of 1827 through the city residents’ experiences, focusing on the catastrophic nature of the fire and on how individual residents experienced and felt its effects. He will also highlight the issues of guilt, which were painful at the time. The lecture is free of charge and open to all. The room can fit about 80 participants.