22.2.2010

Konepaja Hall becomes the centre of major productions during Capital of Culture year

Located in the Turku railway yard, the old engineering workshop for the Finnish railway company VR becomes the centre of the Turku Capital of Culture year. 

The Konepaja Hall is the selected location for long-running exhibitions and some of the major performances. Konepaja Hall’s stars will include local, national and international talents. The venue becomes a key attraction and experience for the Capital of Culture Turku and its visitors. The Konepaja Hall will be open for visitors every day of the week.

The engineering workshop premises are available for Turku 2011 during year 2011 and for selected events already during 2010. Nearly 9,000 square metres are reserved for the use of the Capital of Culture arrangements.

Konepaja interior night view. Illustration: Vapaavuori Architects

The Capital of Culture exhibitions and performances are set in two wings of the old engineering workshop. The west wing on the harbour side of the building will feature five major exhibitions, on display for the entire Capital of Culture year. A performance stage and an auditorium for 1,200 viewers will be built in the east wing. Konepaja Hall is expected to attract approximately 150,000 visitors during 2011.

Exhibitions feature fire, art and football

One of the Konepaja exhibitions, Fire! Fire!, is a self-portrayal exhibition of the Capital of Culture Turku. The exhibition based on fire is produced by the Museum Centre of Turku in cooperation with Heureka, the Finnish Science Center, among others.

The exhibition Only a Game? was displayed in Liverpool during 2008. Photo: UEFA

The Union of European Football Association (UEFA) comes to Konepaja Hall with the interactive Only a Game? exhibition. The exhibition was displayed previously in Liverpool during 2008 and is currently a part of the Istanbul Capital of Culture programme. The exhibition widely displays the European football culture and is tailored for each exhibition city. 

Finnish contemporary photography is represented 

The Konepaja Hall also hosts an extensive exhibition on contemporary photography titled Alice in Wonderland. The exhibition material is collected by the Finnish Museum of Photography and the exhibition is curated among others by British Sheyi Bankale, curator and editor-in-chief. The exhibition will become the largest exhibition of contemporary photographic art ever displayed in Finland. Finnish contemporary photography is highly respected and the exhibition is expected to attract significant international attention.

The Museum of Contemporary Art Kiasma produces a unique exhibition for Konepaja Hall together with the Kiasma Foundation. The exhibition showcases the works WHERE IS WHERE – MISSÄ ON MISSÄ? (2008) by video artist Eija-Liisa Ahtila and video installation WESTERN UNION: Small Boats (2007) by the world-famous British video artist and movie director Isaac Julien. This is the Finnish premiere for both installations in their full form. Kiasma’s exhibition is thematically linked to the Africa theme of the ARS11 Exhibition.

The Tom of Finland exhibition is based on the homoerotic works by the internationally acclaimed artist Touko Laaksonen, born in the town of Kaarina close to Turku. The exhibition features works from the collection of Tom of Finland Foundation in Los Angeles. The exhibition is brought to Turku by the Homotopia organisation that also organised the well-received exhibition in Liverpool as part of the Capital of Culture year 2008.  

Wide variety of performances: from heavy metal to dance and opera

The east wing of Konepaja Hall hosts altogether more than 50 performances during the Capital of Culture year. Various plays, operas, concerts and artistic experiences attract visitors throughout the year.

Borrowed Light, by the Tero Saarinen Company,  will kick off its European tour in Turku May 2011. Photo: Tanja Ahola

The first to take over the Konepaja performance stage in January 2011 is the 1827 Infernal Musical by the Turku Young Theatre. The heavy metal musical unlike anything seen before is performed by local youth guided by hard-core professionals. 

The smash hits for the first part of the year also include the musical Middle-Aged Hair in February. The stars of the musical are average Turku residents who perform the Hair musical. The latest addition to the production is choreographer Mikko Ahti. The first practises for these performances included almost 300 enthusiastic and open-minded music lovers.

During March 2011, the Konepaja Hall hosts ENERGO, the dramatic performance composed by Ilkka Niemeläinen. Performers include the a cappella group Rajaton and the UNI band. In addition to music, this boundary-breaking performance that utilises electronics and technology focuses strongly on visual output and the space shifting between order and chaos.

During April, the Konepaja Hall is taken over by an eight-metre steel structure with the premiere of Dancing Towers, the 30^th anniversary performance by the AB Dance Company. The audience is set to experience an incredible story about humans’ aspiration to rise higher and higher. The production team includes a wide group of international artists, including artists from Turku, St. Petersburg, Moscow and Tallinn. Russian choreographer Sasha Peplyaev, a familiar visitor to Turku, is responsible for the choreography and direction of the performance.

Tero Saarinen Company, part of the current elite of Finnish contemporary dance, kicks off the European tour for its major production Borrowed Light at the Konepaja Hall in Turku during May. The performance to be shown in Konepaja has been several times called one of the best dance performances of the last decades.

At the end of the year, Konepaja hosts the world premiere of the Erik XIV opera. The performance presents the story of the tragic king of Sweden-Finland in the form of an opera.

Konepaja Hall is open for visitors every day of the week in 2011!

The Konepaja Hall venue will be used for the first time already this spring as the Accordion Wrestling / Battle by Kimmo Pohjonen kicks off its pilot tour on April 22^nd - 25^th 2010. Ticket sales for Accordion Wrestle / Battle start on March 5^th via Lippupiste ticket office. In addition to Turku, the performance is shown in Tampere, Helsinki and Stockholm during 2010.

An open day for the general public in the Konepaja Hall is held on April 11^th 2010. During 2011, Konepaja Hall and its exhibitions are open for public between January 15^th and December 15^th 2011. 

Additional information

• Additional information and contact details for exhibitions and performances
• Images available at www.turku2011.fi/materials
• Turku 2011
• Tom of Finland retrospective Turku 2011 (pdf)

WHERE IS WHERE? (2008) by video artistEija-Liisa Ahtila will be seen for the first time in Finland. Photo: Malla Hukkanen