Aapo Kukko: Red Beethoven -Exhibition

Festival’s Visual Artist of the Year is Oulu-based cartoonist, illustrator and screenwriter Aapo Kukko, whose work is the basis for the visual identity of the festival. For this exhibition Kukko has selected works from his upcoming cartoon Punainen Beethoven (Red Beethoven), which deals with the life of composer Dmitri Shostakovich.

Aapo Kukko´s graphic novel Red Beethoven is based on the life of Soviet composer Dmitri Shostakovich (1906–1975). The work spans several decades, telling the story of the artist, his era, and his contemporaries – from the early years of the Soviet Union in the 1920s to the height of Brezhnev-era power in the mid-1960s. A central theme is the artist’s complex relationship with the authorities, especially with Joseph Stalin.

The work will be published in autumn 2026, around the 120th anniversary of the composer’s birth.

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In co-operation with: Oulunsalo Library, Oulu Comics Centre