 A Week On An Island With Trojan Horse – The Summer School Reader Welcome to the Trojan Horse Summer School book launch party on February 14, 2026 from 14-16:00. The event will be held at Oulun kirjallisuuden talo, Hallistuskatu 9, Oulu. This book—just like the summer schools—is a collection of personal memories, reflections, and interpretations. Rather than documenting the thematics that arose, and what happened in the summer schools so far, our aim is to talk about the phenomena around and in between events. Summer schools are always intense experiences. We live together outside for a week, sharing the usually quite sunny weather, as well as the everyday maintenance routines: preparing breakfast, doing the dishes, warming up the sauna, and taking turns organising workshops. After a couple of days, the group usually feels comfortable with each other. When the week ends, it feels sad to say goodbye. For a couple of weeks, the group chats stay active with pictures from the island and from home. And then slowly, everyday life takes over, and the intensity fades. Still every now and then, even after years of silence, a message might appear in the old group chat. Random memories from the island are likely to pop up just as heart, animal, and celestial emojis are attached to the message. You can buy the book directly from us here. The book will be available in selected bookstores soon! /// Edited by: Ott Kagovere, Hanan Mahbouba, Jaroslav Toussaint, Arlene Tucker, Andre Vicentini, and Tommi Vasko Texts by: Hanan Mahbouba, Marianna Maruyama and Arlene Tucker, Jaroslav Toussaint, Andre Vicentini, and Tommi Vasko 105 × 180 mm 134 pages Edition: 500 Graphic design: Ott Kagovere and Keert Viiart Published by Trojan Horse ISBN 978-952-65706-0-0 2025  L-R: Kaisa Karvinen, Ilo, and Arlene Tucker will host the book launch party in Oulu on February 14th. See you there!
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Tove Jansson's Taikatalvi (Magic Winter) is a classic Moomin story published in 1957. This is a tale of Moomintroll waking up in the middle of a winter only to encounter many mysteries of seasons, nature and friendship. Through life size puppetry we see many beloved Moomin characters come to life: pragmatic and compassionate Too-Ticky, rambunctious and stubborn Little My, curious and adventurous Moomintroll, the collecting and rule abiding Hemulen and the Ancestor who creaks in the corners. Helena Markku's beautiful job of designing the puppets along with Merja Pöyhönen's direction of the play created a peaceful, playful and magical twist to Magic Winter on stage.
What I loved the most is how light and shadow was played with on stage. The softness and the wonder from the experimental usage of stage lights gave the sense of snow falling from trees onto your head or even watching Moomintroll play in a mountain of snow, for example. The portrayal of northern lights, the darkness of the winter and the gradual shift to more sun in the spring all came to life through the fantastic stage direction. The movement of the puppets was fun to watch. Sometimes it would take up to three puppeteers to move a puppet. It wasn't distracting through. If anything, it was another point of interest for me as simple movements should not be taken for granted. The tempo was relaxing and the sound design flowed with the Moomintroll's adventure through winter as well as birds and other life forms waking up for spring. The play is suitable for all ages. Most of the audience were young children with adults or caregivers. Oulu theatre does a good job in making this a positive and inclusive experience for people of all ages. Six year old Lucas, as did many other children, needed a cushion to put on his seat to make him just a tad taller to see the stage from the back row. After the show, it was also fun to stroll through the photo exhibition of the play on the second floor of the theatre. That gave us a time to reflect on the play, to talk about the characters and other Moomin stories. Esityksessä kivaa oli isoisä. Lucas ei tykännyt lopusta, koska se oli hänen mielestä tylsä. Kokemuksessa oli hauskaa hahmo nimeltä surku, koska se ulisi.
What did you enjoy about Taikatalvi?
I suggest you catch Taikatalvi at Oulu theatre while you can! I am a member of the Oulu Theatre’s Audience Committee and received tickets to the performance. We aren’t critics; rather, we share the perspectives of ordinary theatregoers on social media at a time when the number of theatre reviews is on the decline. Kuulun Oulun teatterin Näyttämöraatiin ja sain liput näytökseen. Emme ole kriitikkoja, vaan tuomme maallikkojen näkemystä teatterista someen ajassa, jossa teatteriarvioiden määrä on laskusuunnassa. #Näyttämöraati #OulunTeatteri #PuhettaTaiteesta |
AuthorArlene Tucker is an artist, diversity agent, and educator currently based in Oulu, Finland. Archives
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