Cultivating Wonder: Tove Jansson and the Natural Imagination
General Admission Access + Panel
1 to 2:30 p.m.; Ross Hall
Developed in partnership with the Consulate General of Finland, Cultivating Wonder: Tove Jansson and the Natural Imagination invites audiences to explore the profound connections between nature, creativity, and storytelling in the work of artist and author Tove Jansson. The program begins with a screening of Haru, Island of the Solitary (1998) followed by a panel discussion. Panelists Maria Popova and Kate Zambreno will explore the depth and enduring relevance of Jansson’s vision beyond the beloved Moomin stories, revealing how the natural world shapes their own artistic practice and imaginative landscapes. Together, these programs offer a deeper look at one of the 20th century’s most influential creative voices and the timeless resonance of the world she created.
Image © Moomin Characters™
About the Panelists
Maria Popova
Maria Popova thinks and writes about our search for meaning, lensed sometimes through science and philosophy, sometimes through poetry and children’s books, always through wonder. She is the creator of The Marginalian (born in 2006 under the name Brain Pickings), which is included in the Library of Congress permanent digital archive of culturally valuable materials. Her books and projects include Traversal, The Universe in Verse, Figuring, The Coziest Place on the Moon, and An Almanac of Birds: 100 Divinations for Uncertain Days.
Kate Zambreno
Kate Zambreno is the author of more than 10 books that confound genre—variously novels, speculative essays and reports, performative lectures—including Heroines, Drifts, Book of Mutter, The Light Room, To Write as if Already Dead, and Animal Stories. They also co-authored, with Sofia Samatar, a work of experimental criticism, Tone. Forthcoming from Semiotext(e) in Fall 2026 and Fall 2027 are two novels of interiority and precarity: Foam and Performance Art. Against Nonfiction: Writing Through Capitalist Realisms is forthcoming from Haymarket Books in Spring 2027. They are a doctoral student in Performance Studies at NYU, thinking through resistance and duration.
About Haru, Island of the Solitary (1998)
World famous artist and author Tove Jansson and her life partner, graphic artist Tuulikki Pietilä, spent 25 summers on the remote island of Klovharun in the Gulf of Finland. This documentary is based on 20 hours of Super 8 footage shot by Tuulikki Pietilä between 1970 and 1991.
43 min. Directed by Kanerva Cederström. Produced by Lumifilm. Copyright owned by © Moomin Characters.
Location Everett Children's Adventure Garden