Chorus sinensis is an audiovisual choral work dedicated to cormorants (Phalacrocorax carbo sinensis). It was produced from 2019–2022 in the coastal areas of the Bothnian Sea where human and seabird territories overlap. The work asks: Is the cormorant worth a song sung by humans? Can there be poems about a bird that never sings, about a bird that some people regard as a nuisance? What could be the cormorant’s tale told in the future?
Conceived and curated by Ulla Taipale, the work combines videos, photographs and recordings made by artist Jan Eerala along the Bothnian Sea, with a choral composition inspired by cormorants written by composer and sound artist Lau Nau. The team includes Karoliina Lummaa, a literary researcher specialising in bird literature, and biologist and artist Merja Markkula, as well as the Poseidon choir: Kristina Bakić, Eeva Bergroth, Anna Jussilainen, Tuija Kuoppamäki, Aleksi Pihkanen, Sami Siitojoki, Teemu Suuntamaa, Susanne Ådahl and Iina Ukkonen.
