Notes from the Underworld – Hanneriina Moisseinen and E. L. Karhu

Based on a play, Ajan rajalla (Notes from the Underworld) (2022) is a graphic novel made up of a collage of different materials. It contemplates on the similarity of the ideas of the panels in graphic novels and the theatre stage while telling a story with no recognisable characters or scene. The story is set in the inner world of the main character.

A characteristic feature of the comic narrative is that readers tend to combine abstract images into a narrative in their mind, even if the logical connection between the images is not self-evident. However, the text included in the comic sheds light on the meanings of the images. The text is based on playwright E. L. Karhu’s play Kuka tahansa meistä – dokumentti (Any one of us – a documentary) (2011), which premiered as a co-production of the Finnish National Theatre and Teatteri 2.0 in 2013.

The comic uses a collage of different text genres to depict the main character’s inner journey into the landscapes of their own mind. Ajan rajalla portrays the inner experience of a person caught in an extreme situation, a journey into the absurd and strange land outside of time and back. What to do when common sense is of no use, and you lack sufficient understanding? How to find your way back from beyond the edge of time to our shared reality?

The exhibition has received a government grant from the Finnish Heritage Agency. The exhibition is supported by the Arts Promotion Center Finland, the Arts Council of Uusimaa, the Foundation of Niilo Helander and The Finnish Comics Professionals.

Picture Hanneriina Moisseinen and E.L. Karhu, On the Edge of Time, 2020. Photo Hanna Koikkalainen.