International festival extravaganza in May

During May, the Capital of Culture programme in Turku emphasises internationality as well as small encounters, design and sculpture. A high-quality theatre festival and a street culture event will bring a great number of international guests to the city, kicking off the highly anticipated tourism season.

Turku City Theatre’s production Performing Arts in May will bring the year's most versatile European theatre festival to Turku. The sounds of traditional Portuguese fado music will give an undertone to the play Una Familia Portuguesa, which opens up the history of Portugal from the point of view of a family with a humorous tint. The genre of choice for the visual spectacle To the End of Love is gothic/horror/musical. The performance is produced by a group of young artists from Finland, France, Germany, Lithuania, Russia and Spain. Lenin Love. Stalin Love. will make a guest appearance from Ukraine. The performance is dramatised and directed by Andriy Zholdak, one of the world’s top directors, whose other direction Anna Karenina will also be seen as part of the festival in Turku. Carte Blanche, a Bergen-based dance group, will offer the best of what Norway has to offer in dance with a world premiere performance in Turku.

Visitors from all over Europe

The Eurocultured Festival is another major international effort, taking over the banks of the River Aura in late May. The free-of-charge street culture event will introduce as many as 300 artists from over 10 different European countries. The workshops led by the artists will allow the participants to personally test their skills in a range of activities, from graffiti art and dance to writing rap songs. Interesting bands and dancers will take to the festival stages. The main responsibility for the event series is with Spearfish Ltd from Manchester, in cooperation with Helsinki-based Soul Production Oy.

Tero Saarinen Company, one of the top dance groups in Finland, will start the European tour for its performance Borrowed Light from Logomo, Turku. The major production has received praising reviews from all over the world and features the American The Boston Camerata ensemble. In addition to two performances, Tero Saarinen will run a workshop for professional dancers on his choreographies.

At the end of May, the rare Performance 2011 festival will visit Turku. An international curator trio and selected artists will provide an interesting cross-section of the field of contemporary performance in Europe. The festival will be produced in cooperation with Turku-based Fluxee Club, which has an established role as an arena for the experimental arts.

Shapes of sculpture and design

The Wäinö! sculpture exhibition will bring works by Maija Helasvuo, Villu Jaanisoo, Vesa-Pekka Rannikko and Miina Äkkijyrkkä to Gallery Maaret Finnberg and the Main Library courtyard. In addition to works by invited well-established sculptors, the exhibition will give room to the younger generations and their narrative expertise. Artists selected based on an application round include Mia Hamari, Liisa Hietanen, Laura Könönen, Pasi Mälkiä and Jenni Tieaho.
In the future, Wäinö! exhibitions will be organised once every four years.

Turku designers and fashionistas have pooled their resources to organise the Turku Design Festival happening during the second week of May. The festival comprises a variety of stand-alone events organised by dozens of designers and other contributors. Turku Design Festival provides an extensive take on Turku design through seminars, workshops, exhibitions, fashion shows, yard parties and design sales.