Here are the videos from the Tove Festival in Reykjavik 2022!

28.11.2022 (Last updated: 14.12.2022 )

Would you like to dive into the world of Tove Jansson and the Moomins through discussions about utopia, religion and the meaning of life, queerness, climate crisis and the way Jansson was constantly pushing limits through her art? We have the tabled catered for you – here are the videos, subtitled to English, from the Tove Festival in Reykjavik, Iceland, in September 2022. Amongst the panelists, you will find the Icelandic Prime Minister Katrín Jakobsdóttir, the best-selling author Andri Snaer Magnason and Tove Jansson's niece Sophia Jansson, just to mention a few.

Tove Festival is a whole-day seminar about Tove Jansson and her art, and how it continues to inspire today. It’s a touring festival which has been organised in Helsinki in September 2021 and Stockholm in March 2020 before arriving to Reykjavik in September 2022 and Tampere December 2022.

Watch the videos from the Tove Festival in Reykjavik here

Tove Jansson in the world: how children’s fiction addresses the biggest issues

Tove Jansson wrote the first Moomin book – The Moomins and the Great Flood – at a time of crisis, just at the end of the Second World War. Refugees trekked across Europe, and their presence is reflected in her novel. She returned to a theme in two key Moomin novels, Comet in Moominland and Moominsummer Madness. The Moomins may be a fantasy, but they are very much of the world. Mark Ellingham of Sort Of Books is joined by the bestselling Icelandic author Andri Snaer Magnason to discuss how Tove handled big themes in children’s fiction and how Magnasson follows the same path in his own work, addressing, in particular, the world’s climate crisis.

Keeping it fresh and true. Tove Jansson’s search for a new aesthetic in her writing and art

Like all true artists, Tove Jansson resisted commercial pressure to churn out iterations of the same hugely popular images and stories. Not only did she constantly push the boundaries of her practice, experimenting with design and seeking new depth and nuance in her books, but she also kept a keen eye on their production values and artistic quality. Sophia Jansson, the niece of Tove Jansson and Natania Jansz, publisher of Sort of Books, discuss the extraordinary integrity (and work ethic) of Tove Jansson as she navigated Moomin fame to stay true to her ideals as an artist and writer.

Utopia and the dream about a better world in the works of Tove Jansson

In Tove Jansson’s works, books as well as illustrations, a fascinating world is created where friendship, caring for others and tolerance are central issues. Gerður Kristný talks to Katrín Jakobsdóttir, literary scholar and Prime Minister of Iceland, Margrét Tryggvadóttir, writer, graphic editor and former MP, Jón Yngvi Jóhannsson, lecturer at the University of Iceland, and the artist Ragnar Kjartansson about the sanctuary of imagination in Jansson’s works. Is this world an unattainable utopia, or is this perhaps the world we already live in, seen from a new perspective?

More videos from the Tove Festival in Reykjavik will be added soon; stay tuned to the Moomin Official Youtube channel not to miss them! And read more about Tove Jansson, her fascinating life, art and hugely productive career on tovejansson.com

15.11.2022

Here are the videos from the Tove Festival in Reykjavik 2022!

Watch the videos from the Tove Festival in Reykjavik here

Tove Festival celebrates Tove Jansson’s life and work in Tampere in December

Blasphemy in Tove Jansson’s literature – and other rare treats from the first Tove festival in Stockholm

Queer themes, Moomin music and the latest Tove Jansson research on the Tove Festival in Helsinki – watch videos here!