Escort Service for the Inquisitive

Do you consider yourself to be openminded about the world and about art, but have never yet visited the Kiasma Theatre? You may be just the right person to use the theatre’s new Escort Service.

Maisa Hollmén is an active senior citizen and a frequent user of the cultural services in Helsinki. She is also unprejudiced and curious about contemporary art. In October, at the suggestion of young female relative, she decided to participate in the Kiasma Theatre’s Escort programme.

The Escort Service is a new concept which gives visitors an opportunity to watch a performance in the Kiasma Theatre together with a performing arts professional. The visitor meets his or her art escort in the Kiasma lobby before the performance. They watch the performance together and afterwards sit down to have a cup of coffee and a chat about the experience.

Maisa Hollmén, how would you describe your experience of the Escort Service? ”Contact,” she says smiling. The conversation over a cup of coffee was particularly rewarding for her: ”It was a meaningful discussion, a new kind of immersion. It gave us an opportunity to share ideas freely and replay the performance again in our minds.”

You can never know in advance who your viewing companion will be. Were you nervous? ”Of course it’s always exciting to meet a new person, but it is also an opportunity, a kind of curiosity.” Although the service is intended especially for newbies, it can also benefit viewers who are already familiar with the Kiasma Theatre, who are open to a bit of an adventure.

So would you be willing to visit the theatre again with an escort? ”Absolutely,” Maisa says without hesitation.

Interested? Get in touch with the Kiasma Theatre by email on escort@kiasma.fi

Elina Latva