Art brings performances to the living rooms of the Malmi area
Helsinki City Theatre’s audience outreach organises Art for Homes events as part of the Malmi in the Main Role art project. In the spring and autumn of 2025, ordinary homes and home environments in the Malmi area will be transformed into stages and venues for art events. The spring events have now been published, and there are four different events that have been brainstormed together with each resident.
Art for Homes is a concept in which ordinary homes and home environments are transformed into stages and venues for art events. Anyone living in the Malmi area has been able to register their home. The content of the events is planned on a case-by-case basis based on the wishes and ideas of the resident of the home. The artists of the Malmi in the Main Role project are responsible for the planning and implementation of the 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 aim of the Art for Homes concept is to crystallize something essential about the resident and the nature of the home to the event. At its best, an art event can concretise something that the resident would not have been able to put into words, but which they recognise as their own and find meaningful. The personal home environment is also an inseparable part of the final work, bringing art into the middle of people’s lives,” says project artist Laura Ikonen.
The four events in the spring of 2025 in the Malmi area are:
Ramy Essam – a living room concert invites you to an acoustic folk rock performance on April 14 in a warm and lively living room. The home hides an eternal interrailer and a resident interested in the multicultural world, so what could be a better event in the living room than a gig by rock artist and human rights defender Ramy Essam . Ramy’s music reflects his journey from the heart of the Egyptian Revolution to international fame. His songs have become known for their combination of rock, Egyptian nuances and hip-hop influences. The songs deal with human rights issues in both Arabic and English. The event will be held in English.
At the Cello and Detective Stories event in an apartment building in Malmi on 23 April, the audience will be able to enjoy the intense atmosphere of cello playing and detective stories, as the performers interpret Agatha Christie’s production. The stories of the home’s personal collectibles, which come to life from the shelves, also bring their own addition to the whole.
The Process event invites the public to an apartment building in Malmi on 29 April. At the event, the home is transformed into a stage for the artistic process, and the audience can follow the theatre artists’ work on the different aspects of the performance in real time and influence the content of the performance at the end of the evening.
At the Old to New event on 13 June, the spacious and cosy living room of a semi-detached house will become a creative space for doing things together, where stories and handicrafts are combined. Would you decorate a trusted canvas bag with colorful drawings? Or would you like to add sequin patterns to the back of an old jacket? Maybe patch up a jeans knee or decorate a bag with fabric flowers? At the event, the audience gets to refurbish something that has already fallen into disuse, share thoughts and immerse themselves in the moment invited by the different rooms of the home.
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 schedule of events in autumn 2025 and instructions for spectator registration will be published in early autumn.
The Art for Homes events were carried out in 2019 as part of HKT’s Spotlight Northeast project. In addition, in 2020–2021, the Art for Homes Kalasatama project was carried out, in which the stories of the homes in the area were collected in an art installation in the REDI shopping centre.
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. The project explores and makes visible the history and changing identity of the district through theatre art. The activities are planned, implemented and developed in cooperation with local actors and residents in the area as well as other actors in the Helsinki model. 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: The living room of the Process performance. Photo: Laura Ikonen
Press photos can be found in the media bank and press releases in the newsroom.
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 and one hour before the performance and Lippu.fi, Mon-Sat 9-21, Sun 10-16, tel. 0600 900 900 (2 €/min + local network charge)
Further information:
Project artist Laura Ikonen, paaroolissamalmi@hkt.fi, 050 475 8701