Avant Aboagora: Winged Messaging in a Foreign Language

This presentation explores how creative expression in a foreign language can reveal new ways of communicating across cultures and emotions.

The event is free of charge and open to the public. The Astra building and Bonfire Hall are accessible locations.

Winged Messaging in a Foreign Language explores how messages travel across languages, cultures, and emotional worlds. The presentation reflects on what it means to do creative work in a foreign language and what happens when meaning is carried by not only words, but also tone, image, memory, and association. Speaking in a foreign language can feel like sending something fragile into the air: it may arrive clearly, change shape along the way, or be understood in unexpected ways.

The presentation examines communication as both a risk and an opportunity, demonstrating how linguistic distance can create confusion, foster creativity, spark humour, and build connections. It reflects on language, identity, and the strange beauty of being imperfectly understood.

Maxim Fedorov is a journalist and writer who has become a distinctive voice in Finnish public life. Born in St. Petersburg, he studied Finnish language and culture at the University of Helsinki, graduating in 2010. He began working for Yle, the Finnish public broadcasting company, in 2013, and now reports from Kyiv, where he covers Russia’s war against Ukraine in fluent Finnish, a language he learned as an adult. Alongside his work as a journalist, Fedorov has written books as well as essays on social media on Finland, migration, language, and identity issues. His work combines sharp observation, intellectual curiosity, and a humane, often quietly humorous tone.