
Adam Kinner and Christopher Willes have created a one-on-one performance that turns a public library into a space of sensory encounter and heightened awareness. MANUAL, staged covertly during the public hours of Itäkeskus Library, invites participants to arrive on site with instructions to meet a stranger in a particular place. From there they are silently led through a series of subtle events, following written notes and immersive audio in headphones. They walk through the space and listen together. They look at books and read to each other. Sounds and images found in the library combine and blur. And as the piece progresses the materials come to form a manual for slowing down.
Intermingling with the daily life of the library, MANUAL reflects on the act of listening and the intimacy of reading with another person in a public space. Through a carefully guided participatory experience, the piece invites viewers to engage with the library as a site of deep sensory awareness, and to reflect on the social and technological conditions of shared attention.
Adam Kinner and Christopher Willes will host a workshop on the 8th of November, organised by Tanssille ry as part of Focus on the Local Landscape. More information here.
Adam Kinner and Christopher Willes create performances that explore unusual states of sensory awareness. Their work is often staged in public spaces, and informed by an interest in immersive sound, listening, audience perspective, and the possibilities of participatory art. They created MANUAL in collaboration with Montreal-based dance artist Hanna Sybille Müller.
Venue
Stoa, Itäkeskus Library, Turunlinnantie 1, 00900 Helsinki
Time
12.11.2025 11–19
13.11.2025 11–19
14.11.2025 11–18
15.11.2025 10–16
Soup Talk 10.11. at 12.00
Tickets
10 €
Duration: approx. 45min
Please note: This is a one-on-one performance. Daily performance times include several one-on-one performance experiences, each approximately 45 minutes. Reserve your own time slot. You will get more instructions after reserving your slot.
Creation: Adam Kinner, Christopher Willes
Dramaturgy: Hanna Sybille Müller
Performers: Adam Kinner, Christopher Willes and Riveria students Ella Valkola, Merimari Seppänen, Siri Dybdahl and Suvi Rinkineva
Performance Contributions: Jacinte Armstrong, Meghan Gilhespy, Denise Kenney, Sarut Komalittipong, Alexa Mardon, Sym Mendez, Stang Puapongsakorn, Rosa Postlethwaite, Chao-Ying Rao aka. Betty, Lauren Runions, Napim Singtoroj, Jaturachai Srichanwanpen, Eva Svaneblom
Sound contributions from: Michael Davidson, Colin Fisher, Thomas Gill, Terri Hron, Philippe Lauzier, Germaine Liu, Philippe Melanson, Karen Ng, Felicity Williams
Created with the support of: Festival TransAmériques (Les Respirations), Conseil des arts du Canada, Conseil des arts et des lettres du Québec, the Ontario Arts Council, LA SERRE – arts vivants
Creation residencies: Take Me Somewhere (UK), LA SERRE – arts vivants (Montréal)
MANUAL premiered at OFFTA Live Art Festival, Canada, in June 2022.
Photo: Anna Wansbrough
Visit supported by: The Québec Government Office in London and Eugène, Elisabeth och Birgit Nygréns stiftelse
Visit in collaboration: Stoa, Itäkeskus Library, North Karelia Municipal Education and Training Consortium Finland / Riveria