︎
Savu E. Korteniemi
&
Anna-Kaisa Vuonokari:

'Let a child lay the dreams of the earth, the dreams of the trees' *
Lullabies of the Earth and the Death

Tuutulaulu

Tuuti lasta tuonelaan!
Tuonelass' on uusi tupa
Sivuseinät sirkanluista
Peräseinä peuran luista
Penkit pienistä penninkeistä
Kiuas kullan kirpilöistä
Laate meren vahasta
Ovi omenapuusta
Katto katajan kuorista.

Nakkila, Lampola, Southwest Finland

Cradle song
 
Lull my child to Tuonela*
There is a new house in Tuonela,
Side walls made of crickets bones,
The back walls of deer bones,
Benches of small pennies,
A stove of golden bricks
A floor of large stone from the sea
A door of apple wood,
A roof of junipers bark.

*Tuonela, the Land of Death
From Nakkila, Lampola, Southwest Finland
Translation Anna-Kaisa Vuonokari


Nuku, nuku nurmilintu

Nuku, nuku, västäräkki!
Kyllä Herra herättää
Vitsan varpu virvoittaa
Koivun oksa koroittaa.

Pyssyjoki (Børselv), Finnmark: Tievan Kreeta


Sleep, sleep Bird of Grass
Sleep, sleep, Wagtail!
Let the Lord awaken you
Sprig of the twig refresh you
Branch of the birch rise you up

From Pyssyjoki (Børselv), Finnmark. Singer: Tievan Kreeta (Kreeta from Tieva)
translation Savu E. Korteniemi



Finnic traditional lullabies often tell about 'Tuonela', the underworld Land of the Death. In past times parents used to sing lullabies, not only to put their child to sleep, but also to soothe and comfort themselves in the age of high infant mortality rates.

Savu E. Korteniemi's long-term project "Viimeinen" (The Last Ones) refers to the connection between the Land of North and the Land of Death in Finnic-Baltic mythology. In this exhibition, the project continues by working together with Anna-Kaisa Vuonokari and approaching the theme through their shared interest, lullabies.

In our work we combine themes of night, sleeping, listening and desire to sing together about sadness, yearning and the fear at the edge of the climate crisis , as the Earth is in danger of death, like the children before.

* fragment from Poem 175,  Kanteletar, 2nd book


List of works