Four huge bright green figures have taken root in the forest on Örudden here in Söderlångvik. This is their permanent home, where they’re becoming a part of the surrounding nature. Hopefully, real moss will begin to grow on the big sculptures. The moss giants give off an air of mystery. Their origin is unknown: are they visitors from a parallel reality, or have they always been part of this world as we know it?

“The moss children are independent and don’t need the help of adults,” Simonsson says. The children form a community, a band of travellers. Each child has been given its own specific task, all equally significant for their coexistence. Some carry tools and transport equipment on their backs, while others are accompanied by animals, hinting at a close relationship with the natural and non-human world.

Sign language allows them to communicate silently with one another and with their surroundings. Their presence reflects the artworks’ underlying idea of a utopian world where humans, animals, and other beings coexist peacefully. Perhaps the moss giants could be understood as monuments of wonder or guides to a more imaginative view of the world. Rather than proclaiming truths, they invite us to question, dream, and imagine in the same fearless way that children do.

“It is important to give space to ideas that at first glance seem absurd,” Simonsson explains.

The set of artworks is completed by The Song of the Moss Giants, a piece of music composed by Perttu Haapanen. During the summer months, the giants open their lungs at sunrise, sing again at noon and 3 p.m., and end the day by singing at sunset. What do giant children’s songs sound like, and what do they sing about?

The sculptor Kim Simonsson (b. 1974) lives and works in the artists’ village of Fiskars on the southwest coast of Finland and has been working with ceramic moss figures for almost a decade. The moss giants are among the artist’s most large-scale works to date. They were originally created for the cultural festival Lille 3000, held in the French city of Lille in 2022. When the festival ended, four of the giants were acquired for the art collections of the association Föreningen Konstsamfundet. In the summer of 2024, they were exhibited on Lasipalatsi Square at Amos Rex in Helsinki.

Perttu Haapanen (b. 1973) is a Finnish composer specializing in art music. He lives in Helsinki and has studied composition at the Sibelius Academy, as well as electroacoustic music at the Parisian IRCAM institute. He is particularly interested in how voice and language relate to music.