Art in the Homes events bring art to living rooms, yards and even saunas
The Art for Homes events, organised by the Helsinki City Theatre’s audience outreach , will continue. As part of the Malmi in the Main Role art project, the special and touching home performances carried out in the spring of 2025 were enthusiastically received, and in the autumn of 2025, ordinary homes and home environments in the Malmi area will once again be transformed into stages for art events for four performances. During the autumn, there is an opportunity to experience art in living rooms, yards and even in the sauna.
Art for Homes is a concept in which ordinary homes are transformed into stages and bring art into the locals’ own living environment and everyday life. Anyone living in the Malmi area has been able to register their home. Each performance is built together with the resident based on the atmosphere and wishes of the home, which is why each event is unique.
“The performance does not just take place in the home, but the home itself is part of the performance. As a space, it affects the atmosphere and the whole, but it also invites the audience to intimate interaction with both the resident of the home and the art,” says project artist Laura Ikonen .
There has already been one performance in the autumn season, when a performance was carried out in the stairwell of the Heka buildings in Malmi at the beginning of September, which was aimed only at the residents of the apartment building in question. The idea for the stairwell performances came from a resident who wanted to make art accessible to the doorstep of those who may no longer be able to access art themselves. In the stairwell, there was poetry interpreted by actress Leena Rapola and a dance performance by dancer Angela Aldebs .
The four open and free events in the Malmi area in autumn 2025 are:
I May Not Want to Know The Agatha Christie event invites the public to a detached house in Pihlajamäki on 23 September. What happens when Jarno and Pinja’s truecrime podcast I may not want to know meets Agatha Christie’s detective classic Mousetrap? The evening combines reading drama, cello tunes and bubbly humour in the atmosphere of an idyllic courtyard building.
The Bergå Folk Project invites the audience to a detached house in Pukinmäki on 3 October. The Etno-Emma award-winning Bergå Folk Project performs acoustically at the Säveltäjänpuisto Art House, where the audience can experience the band’s energetic and bold approach to folk music in a cozy and communal environment.
The Kodin uni event invites the public to a detached house in Tapanila on 9 October. The atmospheric old wooden house is transformed into an immersive work in which music, video art and contemporary circus lead the viewer to dreamlike worlds. The work is designed as a shared experience for an adult and a school-age child. The artists are part of the Recover Laboratory multi-art collective.
The traditional sauna offers a communal ritual sauna in the spirit of kekri on 4 November in an old wood-fired sauna along the Longinoja river in Malmi. During the evening, we give thanks for the past year, leave burdens behind and welcome the new year together through spells, songs and silence.
All events start at 6 p.m. The number of participants in the events is limited, and a place must be booked in advance. When booking, the address and more detailed arrival instructions will be provided. Admission to the events is free. Reservations and more information about the events here.
The events are planned and implemented by the artists of the Malmi in the Main Role project, Laura Ikonen, Jenny Jumppanen, Aleksi Kinnunen and Janne Puustinen. Depending on the content of the events, other professionals in the field of art may also be invited to participate. In the final events, people who do not know each other meet, as the events are open to everyone.
The purpose of the regional Malmi in the Main Role art project is to offer the residential area various opportunities for theatre and art participation and to support the area’s own cultural activities by also creating new forms of urban culture. In the main role, Malmi is one of the Helsinki Model projects funded by the City of Helsinki.
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In the photo of the press release: A photo collage of the events of the autumn. Photos: Laura Ikonen (Traditional Sauna and I May Not Want to Know Agatha Christie), Sofi Häkkinen (Kodin uni), Marjo Tynkkynen (Bergå Folk Project)
Helsinki City Theatre’s ticket sales and customer service by phone (09) 394022 Mon-Fri 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Ticket offices First line 2, Mon-Fri 12-17, Eläintarhantie 5, Sat (on performance days) 11-18.30 and one hour before the performance and Lippu.fi, Mon-Sat 9-19, Sun 12-16, tel. 0600 900 900 (2 €/min + local network charge) www.hkt.fi
Further information:
Project artist Laura Ikonen, paaroolissamalmi@hkt.fi, 050 475 8701
