Muusaklubi: Aapo Kukko: Red Beethoven - A comic symphony on the life of Dmitri Shostakovich
Aapo Kukko, who is Oulunsalo Soi's visual artist of the year 2025, will talk about his comic book in progress, Punainen Beethoven (Red Beethoven) at the Oulun Muusajuhlat Muusaklubi (Muse Club), with samples projected on the screen. The performance will be enlivened by accordionist Anne-Mari Kanniainen and spoken word artist Lajune, the reigning Finnish champion of lavaruno, with a joint Shostakovich-themed programme.
The Red Beethoven, which will be released in the year of the Oulu Capital of Culture 2026, is based on the life of Soviet composer Dmitri Shostakovich (1906–1975). The cartoon is a decades-long narrative about the composer, his times and his contemporaries, from the early 1920s Soviet era to the dominance of Brezhnev in the mid-1960s. In particular, the story highlights the composer’s relationship with those in power, especially Joseph Stalin.
Before Kukko takes the stage, the winners of the nationwide Muusa writing competition will be announced. The event will also feature Pertti Rautiainen’s poetry performance Kiuruvesi a go-go, Janne Kuustie’s punk poetry and stand-up punk, as well as psychedelic folk by the one-man band Kuis?, led by Kuisma Korhonen.
The performance is a collaboration with the Oulun Muusajuhlat Literary Art Festival. Kukko’s exhibition Red Beethoven is on display at the Oulunsalo Library 7.8.-26.9.
