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ÁÁVU — Joy, Ecstasy, and a Shared Sky ÁÁVU, in Inari Sámi, translates as joy and ecstasy. From the very beginning, the work invited the audience to step into that state, not only as spectators, but as participants. Upon arrival, everyone was encouraged to dress themselves with golden scarves, worn freely and without instruction. A small gesture, but one that immediately softened the atmosphere. Smiles appeared. The audience became visible to one another. After an initial introduction, the journey began. The audience moved through the Siida Museum landscape alongside the performers, sometimes together, sometimes along slightly different paths, gradually making their way toward the snow theatre. There, the snow screen, normally used as a projection surface, was temporarily veiled with a golden fabric. ÁÁVU claimed the space in its own way. Working with a snow screen demands exceptional planning. The material itself is fragile and alive, responding constantly to temperature and humidity. Suspending the golden fabric required careful design and precise execution, ensuring that it never touched the snow surface beneath it. The solution had to be light, accurate, and respectful of the space. Inside the snow theatre, the audience sat on reindeer skins. The performance unfolded both on the designated stage area and among the audience itself, dissolving the usual boundaries between performer and viewer. In the final moments, the audience was gently encouraged to dance, not as an instruction, but as an invitation into a shared state of joy and collective ecstasy. As the performers guided the audience through the landscape, they carried Astera Hyperion LED tubes. I controlled the lights remotely via smartphone, shaping the movement of light across distance and darkness. Nearby, in a laavu, a fire burned steadily. A small group of spectators gathered there, warmed by the flames, drinking blackcurrant juice and listening to an intimate, almost secret concert within the larger experience. The final scenes took place in the Skábmagovat Film Festival snow theatre, a place where films are traditionally projected directly onto a screen made of snow. Under the open sky, ÁÁVU became part of a long tradition of Arctic storytelling, while also bending it into something distinctly its own. Lapin Kansa wrote in their review: “In the end, at least one thing united the audience for certain: their position beneath the same celestial canopy. Jukka Huitila’s lighting design was excellent throughout, but the magical, even astonishingly rust-colored, wildly dancing northern lights stole the show. The staggering timing of the exuberant auroras, appearing right at the premiere, makes one believe that Ahola’s directing connections reach all the way into other spheres.” Anu Jormalainen Perhaps that was the most beautiful reminder of all: that no matter how carefully light is designed, sometimes the nature itself insists on joining the performance. ÁÁVU continues its journey next in Kirkenes, as part of the Barents Spectacle Festival, on February 20–21, 2026. Comments are closed.
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