The Implementators of the Project

In darkness, even the smallest spark of light is noticed.

The 876 Shades of Darkness project was developed by the City of Turku Cultural Services and local artists during the Capital of Culture application process in 2006. The 876 Shades of Darkness project was included in the Capital of Culture application Turku on Fire in the same year, and the project was selected to the following project call in the spring 2008. A large number of actors in Turku and Salo have joined the project during the process.

The City of Turku Cultural Services Office has the main responsibility for the project. The following actors are responsible for carrying out the project consisting of nearly 20 different events:

The artists Reino Koivula, Simo Helenius and Helena Hildur W. have designed their own Cot of Darkness which each will delight the public during the autumn 2010 and winter 2011.

The artists Sanna Syvänen and Paula Väinämö will carry out the Pitch Black Projects in the autumn 2011.

The association Turun Anikistit ry will carry out the Dim Creatures animation and project it on the wall of the Turku Main Library in the autumn 2011. The work will thus capture the visitors' attention.

The work group Antti Helminen & Niina Suominen will carry out the Dimensions of the Dark Forest animation installation in the autumn 2011.

Turun Kesäteatteri will arrange a night show of the family play Risto Räppääjä ja villi kone (Risto Räppäjä and the Wild Machine) in August 2011. The show is carried out by means of lights and shadows.

Kammio ry, the student association for creative writing at the University of Turku, will publish the Anthologies of Darkness and Light. The Antology of Darkness will be published in November 2010 and the Anthology of Light will be published in March 2011.

The School of History, Culture and Arts Studies at the University of Turku will arrange the Studia Generalia series of lectures as the basis for the Camera Sacra & Mala event series in the autumn 2011. The workshops will be carried out in cooperation with various artists.

Photographer and researcher Nina Kokkinen and artist Paula Väinämö will carry out the Camera Sacra & Mala event series in the autumn 2011.

Antti Lindfors, undergraduate student in Folkloristics (University of Turku, Department of Cultural Research), is preparing a master's thesis on experiencing darkness and the deeper meaning of darkness. The research material includes folklore and stories from personal experiences. The study will be completed during 2011.

The City of Turku Cultural Services Office will arrange the Non-religious Art Retreats series of lectures in November 2010 and in March 2011, the Through the Dark series of lectures and the Live Music and Images of Death series of concerts in the autumn 2010 and the Lantern picnic in the autumn 2011.

Turku City Library will approach darkness with the Under the Reading Lamp event which consists of two parts: Night of Reading (November 2010) and Polar Night Weekend (November 2011). In addition, the City Library will arrange the series of lectures Aspects into the Culture of Dying: Death Among Us in the autumn 2010.

The Museum Centre of Turku will arrange two exhibitions: Death and Its Many Faces at Wäinö Aaltonen Museum of Art in October 2010 and Death – Inequalities, Anomalies and Narratives of Death in Turku Castle in May 2011.

Two events will be aranged in Salo within the framework of the 876 Shades of Darkness project. The Wiurila's Shadows ja Night in Villages events will be carried out by the City of Salo Cultural Services, the Wiurilan Varjot Working Group and the associations in the region.