Stone Festival

STONE FESTIVAL, Antares Art Center, September 5, 2026 at 2 p.m.

The Stone Story workshop (August 24-September 4) at Antares Art Center will conclude with a public event called Stone

Festival. It will be held at the Art Center (Pien-Liikkalantie 6, Sippola) on Saturday, September 5, 2026 at 2 p.m. Admission is free. The Stone Festival will look at stone from many perspectives: that of a geologist, a sculptor, and a writer. The speakers will be experts in their fields, and the event will culminate in recitations of Finnish poetry. The exhibition The Voice of Trees and the Stories of Stones will then open at the Antares Art Center, which will be open from September 6 to 27, 2026. The artists in the exhibition are Tiiu Anttinen, Pira Cousins, Terhi Kaakinen, Aimo Katajamäki, Janne Laine, Satu Loukkola, Maarit Malin-Pötry, Olli Mantere, Juha Menna, Jone Mutka, Noora Nio-

Juss, Jaana Paulus, Essi Pitkänen, Laura Pohjonen and Jarmo Vellonen.

STONE FESTIVAL PROGRAM:

From volcanoes to rapakivi granite – stony stories of the Finnish bedrock

Have there been volcanoes in Finland? What kind of geological story is behind the formation of rapakivi granite?

Geologist and non-fiction writer Elina Lehtonen talks about the general characteristics of the Finnish bedrock and how the bedrock of the Sippola area was formed.

The smell of stone

Sculptor Olli Mantere talks about his work.

“When I love stones, when I love granite”

Writer and researcher Suvi Ahola presents the relationship of Finnish writers to stones and rocks.

Poetry samples will be performed by actress Annina Rubinstein.

STONE FESTIVAL PERFORMERS:

PhD Elina Lehtonen is a bedrock geologist and non-fiction writer. In her doctoral dissertation (2016), Lehtonen

examined the age and development of Finland’s oldest volcanic rocks. He has worked extensively on both geology and science, writing science poems and leading science poetry workshops. In 2024, Lehtonen published the non-fiction book Finnish ancient volcanoes – the secrets of our rocks (Gaudeamus) with Jussi Heinonen. Lehtonen is currently working as a research coordinator at the University of Helsinki and is writing a book about the geology pioneer Anna Hietanen (1909–1994). Olli Mantere is a sculptor, graduated from the Carrara Academy of Arts in 2002. His first solo exhibition was in 2005 at the Uusikuva gallery in Kotka. Mantere has created public works in Finland, Italy, Spain and Norway. “I love dust and things that people have breathed life into.” Annina Rubinstein is an actress who works at the Kouvola Theatre. She has appeared in many Finnish theatres not only as an actress, but also as a dancer and singer, in spoken word plays, musicals and dance performances, TV series and films. Next, Rubinstein will be seen this autumn in the musical Pants Off at the Kouvola Theatre. FT Suvi Ahola is a writer, critic and literary scholar who was born in Sippola and has returned to her hometown.