performance in English (German description here)

The Wanderer is based on a small Orthodox book, The Way of a Pilgrim. In the performance, the pilgrim’s journey is drawn on a table while the audience is sitting around that table and listening to the Houkka Brothers (Houkka is the Finnish word for fool) telling the story of a “fool in Jesus’ name”: He is a man who walks the length and breadth of Russia in the mid-19th century, seeking the unceasing prayer of the heart.

The Wanderer is a performance by visual artist Tero Nauha, theatre artist Kristian Smeds and vocal artist Juha Valkeapää. It has been on its own spiritual journey for many many years now. Its pilgrimage started in summer 2002 when three Finnish artists from different disciplines engaged with a small spiritual book that is a precious one to Russian Orthodox and Greek Catholics. There were many things in it they liked: Walking, breathing, doing something one knows one must do and not giving up. The Wanderer tells about joyful things.


“After the first Riga performance (in 2013) we looked at each other, and thought that we are ten years older than on those pictures taken in Kajaani. And you can see it. You can feel it. Births, deaths, divorces, falling-in-love’s, even some new works had taken place during those years. The first performance was ok, but tasted weird. Something had to be done if we wanted to show Wanderer again. It needed update. I’m curious to see how we do it.” (Juha Valkeapää - Helsinki, 23 April 2015)

Duration: 1,5 hrs