The first SM competitions in performative reading were held on Tuesday in the Rusta department store located in the Kaisa building in Helsinki.

Like this character competition has never been seen before.

Dozens of people walking with books in front of their noses filled the front of the Kaisa building in Helsinki on Tuesday.

Everywhere you could see people reading – or pretending to read. The first SM competitions in performative reading had attracted so many people that the organizers of the event were amazed at the crowd.

Not all of those present were by any means competitive. Some came to smell the atmosphere out of interest and to support literature and bookstores.

According to the organizers’ estimates, there were close to 200 people there. 60 of them participated in the actual competition.

The place of the competition was carefully chosen: the newly opened Rusta department store, from which the University of Helsinki evicted the Rosebud bookstore in January.

The idea of ​​the competition was to enter a department store and perform a performative reading to the best of your ability for about half an hour.

Performative reading refers to a phenomenon where, for example, feminist classic works are read in a public place in such a way that others will definitely notice what is being read.

With the real one at the competition venue, the view inside the department store was impressive. Reading figures were encountered everywhere along the corridors. They leaned on piles of carpets, piles of toilet paper, shelves, sat on floors and garden chairs. Some of them were staring dreamily at their books, and some seemed to be really focused on reading. Some stayed where they were, others walked slowly from place to place while reading.

The most important and essential thing was that others can definitely see what book is being read.

In the competition, everyone had the freedom to present a reading in a style that suited them. Rupi Kaurin Milk and Honey – having read the book Buy Nauska with his performance, he tried to immediately dissuade others from thinking. He had parked himself at the entrance with an open suitcase on the floor. Inside the bag was, among other things Pop Gridsa notebook, tampons and an Indian copper pot from which he served water to passers-by.

“What book do you have? What book are you reading?”

The books of the other participants were of great interest and received approving admiration:

“What a great choice!”

There was, for example Bell Hooksin All about love, Lars Aejmelaeusin the birth of christianity, James Joycen Odysseus, Simone de Beauvoirin Another gender, Only Yanagiharan A small life and By Milla Keller What is data protection?

There were also a lot of people who did not participate in the competition, but still walked with their books along the aisles of the store. Someone even tried to enter the store with a wine glass, but had to throw the drink away.

Jury described the level of competition as tough.

Jury member artist Alma Tuuva praised one participant’s impressive aura.

“He was sitting alone in such a secluded place. He didn’t really make contact with other people, but as soon as he started walking towards him, it felt like he had stepped into some kind of force field,” Tuuva described the performance.

The identity of the mysterious figure remained a secret, as the award-winning reader left the place quickly without revealing his name.

The three best performers were awarded. The second award winner was convincing with an acrobatic performance Siiri Immonen.

One who stole the hearts of all the judges was Oxi Koskelainenwho was a costumed writer Miki Liukkoseksi. A writer who was part of the jury Pontus Purokuru was impressed by “Miki Liukkonen’s first posthumous appearance”.

“It was such a wonderfully thought out and executed thing.”

Koskelainen was very satisfied with his own performance.

“I went into Miki’s shoes aesthetically as well. I tried to channel this life, that his life was in a certain way a prelude to this moment,” says Koskelainen, Liukkonen’s novel in hand Life: Preface.

“After learning Miki, I first went to coffee machine sales points. Miki drank at least 20 cups of coffee a day, so it was an easy place to start.”

After that, Koskelainen moved on to looking at fly nets.

“It was another Mickey, maybe some kind of…I’m not sure, but maybe he liked to swat flies.”

Koskelainen participated in the event because he wanted to honor his friend’s legacy.

“We were both from Oulu. I’m in the theater industry, so Miki and I did a few shows.”

Liukkonen died in 2023.

With Tomas Roisin was a clear competitive tactic.

“The tactic was to dedicate myself as much as possible to my character. I was a very performative and superficial person. I think I succeeded quite well. I went to talk to the jury, but unfortunately this time I didn’t win,” says Roisin.

He wanted to participate because the competition sounded like fun.

“Perhaps this is also a good small-scale demonstration for the university that it could have thought twice before throwing Rusta in there.”

Although the event had a humorous tone, it had a more serious motive behind it. According to the university students who organized the event, the competition was organized because the University of Helsinki should continue to have space for books and reading instead of thrift stores.

Likewise with thoughts had also arrived at the event Killian Printz and Misu Kankaanpää.

They are upset that Rosebud had to leave Kaisaniemi.

“It has been an important bookstore. Especially for university students, it has been a place where students can gather and hang out,” said Printz.

With his participation, he also wanted to take a stand on the importance of reading.

Kankaanpää says that he comes from a small town where there are constant attempts to close the local library or at least make it smaller.

“There has been this struggle with that as well. It is very widely seen that literature and meeting space are being reduced all the time. I strongly believe that it is something worth fighting for.”