Kaamos Kosmos

In the organizer's words:

Poems and improvisations from the heartland of light and darkness with Dorothea Grünzweig (reading) and Laura Kokko (violin)

"Kaamos" is a central, almost mythical word in Finnish and refers to the sunless time. Dorothea Grünzweig's poems are not only about the darkness of the calendar, but also about the dark sides of life and memory that can never be fully fathomed. There are also themes of the light season and light. Grünzweig's verses, linked to the Finnish world, draw on a long lyrical tradition and at the same time venture into the "water-drowned land" of language with eloquence and unique images of nature and being.

Violinist Laura Kokko plays improvisations to Dorothea Grünzweig's poems. A loop station is used to create multi-layered soundscapes that take up and continue elements of the poems such as the sounds of nature, landscapes or emotional moods.

Dorothea Grünzweig studied German and English and worked as a teacher in Germany and Helsinki, where she moved in 1989. Since 1998 she has lived in southern Finland as a freelance writer and poetry translator. She has received numerous awards for her poetry, including the Kurt Sigel Prize in 2018, one of the most important prizes for German-language poetry.

Laura Kokko is characterized by her versatility as an artist. In addition to her work as a chamber musician - including at the Turku Music Festival and with the Sinfonia Lahti Chamber Ensemble - she was artistic director of the Volter Kilpi literature festival in Kustavi from 2010-2013. She studied music, philosophy and literature.