Who doesn’t know the little furry characters called Moomins and their friends from the Moominvalley? The whole world knows Tove Jansson because of them. But this Swedish-Finnish writer is a multidimensional personality that we will get to know better at the festival that the Scandinavian House will hold for the occasion of this year’s 110th anniversary of her birth.
Tove Jansson was born in Helsinki to a Swedish speaking artistic family of a sculptor named Viktor Jansson and a graphic designer and illustrator called Signe Hammarsten-Jansson. Tove Jansson studied art in Stockholm, Helsinki and Paris. She drew frescoes and paintings, comic strips for the British newspaper and she illustrated a number of books, for example the Finnish edition of Tolkein’s Hobbit. Her first book about Moomins, called The Moomins and the Great Flood came out in 1945, but Tove Jansson also wrote books for adults. For example Sculptor’s Daughter, in which she combined her memories from her childhood with fantasy. She liked to spend her days on a little island called Klovharun together with her life partner, Tuulikki Pietliä, who was also an artist.
The festival will offer evenings dedicated to the literary and art works of Tove Jansson, film screenings, events for children that will be Moomin-themed and we’ll also visit places that bear a connection to the autor.
FESTIVAL PROGRAMME IN PRAGUE:
6. 6. 19:00 #ReadNordicFilm: Tove (Edison Filmhub)
– in original sound with Czech subtitles
– admission: 175 CZK
8. 6. 13–16 A playful afternoon with the Moomins (Embassy of Sweden garden)
– free admission
12. 6. 19:00 To write, paint, live: an evening about Tove Jansson (Hybernská Campus)
– in Czech
– voluntary admission
13. 6. 18:30 Screening: The Prisoner of the Moomin Valley (Evald Cinema)
– in original sound with Czech subtitles
– admission: 159 CZK
FESTIVAL PROGRAMME IN BRNO:
5. 6. 17:00 To write, paint, live: an evening about Tove Jansson (Jiří Mahen library)
– in Czech
– voluntary admission
6. 6. 20:00 #ReadNordicFilm: Tove (Art Cinema)
– in orginial sound with Czech subtitles
– admission: 140 CZK
8. 6. 14–17 What do Moomins snack on? (Nadace Partnerství Open Gardens)
– admission: 120 CZK / snack; free admission without snack
The Magical Tove Jansson festival is held with the support of Ministry of Culture Czech Republic, the captial city Prague and Embassy of Sweden and in collaboration with Edison Filmhub cinema, Revue Prostor, Evald cinema, Jiří Mahen Library, Art Cinema, Nadace Partnerství Open Garden, Argo publishing house, distributors Film Europe and CinemArt and Embassy of Finland.
