Turku is home to plenty of old factories that have been turned into cradles of culture. The history of Culture Factory Manilla dates back to the 1860s, when its first role to play was a liquor factory.
In the 1910s, the factory gave up distilling for belt and strap manufacturing, which later turned to rope production until the 1980s. After this, the buildings along the River Aurajoki were set to be demolished. However, the yellow stone houses were allowed to remain in place, and the dance group AB Dance Company, established in 1981 and now operating under the state subsidies system (VOS), moved to Manilla in 1991.
Manilla was finally made into a foundation at the end of the 1990s, creating a safe haven and groundwork for the growth and development of this unique cultural centre.
In the early 2000s, the Tehdas Theatre and Jo-Jo Theatre started operating in Manilla, and they are still here to this day. The Turku-based puppetry network Aura of Puppets also found a home in Manilla, as well as the Regional Dance Centre of Western Finland that enables the employment of dance professionals and promotes the accessibility of dance art in Southwest Finland and Satakunta. Many other photography, visual arts, opera and design artists also work in the Manilla complex.
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Manilla is a bustling cluster of art and cultural actors as well as the home stage of many events and festivals. As soon as you step through Manilla's gates, you feel it in the air: something is always going on, there are always new surprises to find.
Annually, Manilla hosts its longest-running event Manifesti multi-arts festival, the Turku Animated Film Festival, and the international puppet theatre festival TIP-Fest; the events and clubs of the New Performance Turku Biennale are organised every two years. The old Liquor Factory is a venue for exhibitions and festival clubs.
Each year, AB Dance Company creates and performs versatile premieres and visiting and tour performances of contemporary dance and dance theatre for both adults and families. AB Dance Company also maintains the bright Kattostudio atelier located in the building along the River Aurajoki which it offers for free as a training space for independent artists when it is not in its own use.
The agile and open-minded Factory Theatre specialises in modern theatre that collides with different interfaces of art, both for adults and children. The factory hosts performances in several spaces, in the main hall and in the attic stage, as well as at the Jokistudio on the other side of the yard.
Jokistudio organises various low-threshold workshop and performance concepts for audiences and artists, such as the Sound and Listening club and Testing Testing evenings. The Tehdas Theatre lounge also regularly hosts clubs and gigs. During the summer season, the Manilla yard often acts as the stage for various events and performances.
Every year, dozens of theatre amateurs and students work on the stage of the Jo-Jo Theatre and with its staging, costumes, make-up and technology. The theatre is ambitious in tackling both domestic and foreign classics, and the programme covers premieres, musical theatre and children’s theatre in different genres. In the summer, Jo-Jo's theatre experience for children and families is available on the island of Vepsä.
TEXT: HEIDI HORILA
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