It is the eve of the Second World War. Germany is going to cede Belgian Congo to Finland. Author Olavi Paavolainen travels to Africa on a secret mission to establish diplomatic relations with the new Finnish colony.
The Second World War is about to begin and the atmosphere is dismal. People are anxiously waiting for the spark that will set of the explosive situation. The allies of Germany, including Finland, have drawn up a plan to redistribute the colonies. Under the deal, Finland will take control of Belgian Congo, an immense country rich in natural resources in the heart of darkest Africa.
The Finnish Government has sent the fashy socialite Olavi Paavolainen on a secret mission into the Congo to establish diplomatic relations with the local ruler and population, and to fnd out the best way to modernise the country. In the jungle, he meets the mysterious Finnish adventuress Hertta Kuusinen, recently released from prison. Together the two begin to plot the future of Finland’s negroes.
This is the beginning of the play Kauniiden unien joella (On the River of Beautiful Dreams) by the Aurinko-teatteri theatre ensemble. It is the story of two Finnish adventurers in darkest Africa, transported by great passions. Finland is far away, as is Belgium; so are Hitler’s Germany and Stalin’s Soviet Union, at least geographically. The air is heavy with anticipation, excitement, strange moods. No one knows what tomorrow will bring, but it will undoubtedly be something exceptionally good.
FEVERISH ENCOUNTER
In 1939, Congo is a country of grief and anger, violence and tribulations. The country is rich in uranium and rubber, slaves, copra and malaria; oil, death and Congo copal. But why would any Finn want to come here? This is the question that preoccupies Olavi Paavolainen, the new colonial attaché of Finland, as he travels up the Congo River. In the upper reaches of the river, he is suddenly visited by stupendous visions. The mangrove trees rise up from the river like mighty pillars reaching for the canopy of the jungle. Birds of paradise fit through the mist rising from the river. As night falls, Paavolainen arrives at the fork of a small river called Ebola. Close to the river is a grassy clearing with a tent in its centre, surrounded by a magnifcent line of black men bearing torches.
Olavi Paavolainen disembarks and walks up to the tent. In the tent he fnds his friend Hertta Kuusinen, wracked by fever. Paavolainen is delighted. He has travelled tens of thousands of miles by aeroplane, zeppelin and steamer, ending far away from White civilisation, only to fnd a cultured, beautiful and companionable white society belle, a sensual bohemian and brisk politician. He falls in love.
THE HARSH REALITY OF THE CONGO
On the River of Beautiful Dreams is the story of the birth of an empire. The King of Belgium, Leopold II, decided in the late 19th century to convert Belgium into a superpower. Disguising his plan as international charity, he was able to fool several humanitarian organisations in Europe and the United States to protect his goal, which in reality was simple economic proft. Information about the atrocities in the Congo did not reach the public until much later.
The former colonies, known today as developing countries, are increasingly used as zones of economic exploitation. Finnish corporations outsource their operations to cheap labour countries, and almost every major Finnish company has established tentacles in some such part of the world. Congo remains topical even today: Finns are there for the purpose of providing ”humanitarian aid”. They participate in the construction of roads whose primary purpose is not to provide a safe ride for school buses, but access to natural resources. At night, the roads carry convoys of armed militia who ”purge” the area of unwanted material – its inhabitants.
-Juha Mustanoja