Finnish circus artist knighted in France performs in Lapland tractor shed

A world-premiere circus performance by Jani Nuutinen, a Finnish artist awarded France’s knighthood for his contributions to the arts, opens this weekend in a tractor shed in Kaukosen, a remote village in Finnish Lapland, Yle reports.

Nuutinen’s latest work, Inertium, blends circus arts, fire, music, and sound in a performance tailored for the 16th annual Hiljaisuus (Silence) Festival. The festival, held in Kaukosen since 2010, transforms barns, sheds, and a former dairy into stages for avant-garde performances under the midnight sun.

The artist, a pioneer of contemporary Finnish circus, has spent four weeks preparing in Ojanperä’s tractor hall—a space he compares to his industrial studio in France. “This felt like coming home,” Nuutinen said. His team includes an opera singer, an electroacoustic percussionist, and a multi-instrumentalist, with the hall’s natural acoustics shaping the performance.

The festival, running June 4–7, has earned multiple awards, including the 2025 Barents Culture Fellowship. Its artistic director, Karita Tikka, attributes its success to the village’s 250 residents, who convert their farms into venues. “The magic lies in timelessness and breaking boundaries,” Tikka said. After the event, locals say the sudden quiet leaves a void—“a festival hangover.”

Nuutinen, who received Finland’s Pro Finlandia medal in 2021, last performed in Helsinki in 2014. His knighthood, granted by the French state, reflects a career spanning decades in European contemporary circus.