suinner + trabelsi

suinner + trabelsi build dance floors for release

All house, all african drums, all heavy bass.
Afro tech, amapiano, swana, hip-hop, r&b, uk funk and club jams — pulled apart and reworked through instinct, pressure, and rhythm. Fast shifts. Long journeys, heavy lows. Sweat, breath, repetition.

Coming from diy art culture, queer nightlife and the need to make space where there wasn’t one. Not performance - presence. Not escape - arrival.

bodies close. time stretched.
softness and impact at once.

it grabs you by your soul

and pulls it to your guts

so it can be released

through your hips

and favorite lyrics.

suinner + trabelsi is a Helsinki-based DJ/MC duo building dance floors rooted in movement, tension, and release. Their sets stretch and collapse time — warm, percussive, and unpredictable. Whether in basements, clubs, or temporary spaces, the focus stays the same: build the feeling, hold it, and let it shift.

Also known as Pehmee aka the soft collective, DJ-duo suinner + trabelsi has played in Finnish clubs like Ääniwalli, Kuudes Linja, Tanner, Bar Ö and KULT. Cultural centres and galleries like Museum of modern art Kiasma and Finnish Museum of Photography. They've also played in festivals like Biennale Venezia, Urkult, Baltic Circle, Kesärauha, Norberg Festival, Ruisrock, Bassline Festival, Flow Festival, all Finnish Pride stages. Most likely found in underground club and dance events, festivals and demonstrations - but also commercial spaces and launching events for customers like Kone Foundation, Zalando, Tise and Lyko. suinner+trabelsi have been featured on local and international radio stations like Oroko Radio, Rinse FM and IDA Radio.

As a collective and co-creators of platforms like Club U-Haul, they center Black and Brown queer bodies, softness, sweat, and resistance shaping floors that lean into intimacy as much as intensity. The duo has hosted, spoken and mc'd in international and local, online and public, events and platforms for a decade now.

MC´s

The job of Master of Ceremony or MC is an important part of the club culture around the world. Pehmee´s compelling, demanding, exciting and at times, even a little difficult sound combines hosting, commentating and MC-culture practices. Pehmee whispers, sings, guides and dives where music feels and creates atmospheres with soundscapes together with the music.

LISTEN

oroko radio

JOSEYSRADIOS

WATCH

LIVE FROM GARDEN

hit different

is a session, a playlist with commentary.

It is a performative gesture to share personal experiences of/with/through music. It aims to create a space where you can submerge to the same intimate feeling of experience of privacy as well as the collectivity of listening to a song.

hit different is a request for revolutionary loitering. Suggestion of a sweet stimuli and sensory experience as active effort and act of care.

Dance, cry, sing, sleep - if you want to.

Ongoing exploration of compassion

Ongoing exploration of compassion is in the center of this project moving onwards. It aiming to serve a space for critical engagement with the themes of compassion and performativity. This iteration specifically focuses on the often-overlooked emotional and intellectual labor involved in navigating acts of "compassion" rooted in performativity rather than genuine empathy. With this work, we invite participants to engage in a critical examination of their own experiences with compassion, both as recipients and as givers, within and across different cultural contexts.

DETAILS

FORMAT:
performance, poem, listening session

DURATION:
20:00 - 60:00 min

LANGUAGE:
ENGLISH

CONTENT NOTES

manifesto, loitering

ADDITIONAL CREDITS

Assistance of set up
at Difts - festival:
Ari Asp

EXHIBITED

Drifts - festival / September 2023

Night of Sience / January 2024

Private fundraising dinner for Palestine / February 2025

KISKA

KISKA is about bringing people together around good food. We've been serving meals and creating food art for our community for a few years now. KISKA has grown from our home kitchen into a pop-up project that builds community through shared meals and experiences.

We truly believe that simple things—like sharing a song, eating a meal together, or just chatting can create strong connections and a sense of belonging, Setting the table in our spaces is a key part of how we do things.

We believe that sharing a snack is a vital act of connection.

We are committed to making our meals and experiences accessible. KISKA events are always free to attend. We keep prices as low as possible and ensure that no one is turned away if they cannot pay. Eating together connects us to each other and, critically, to our own bodies. We focus on emphasizing the joy of cooking and eating pressure free and savoring the moment to help you stay present and in tune with yourself. We are dedicated to preserving cultural heritage through food while embracing creativity to continually reimagine the way we cook and eat.

Sometimes KISKA is a dinner, sometimes a picnic, but always a coffee shop.

From our free-to-attend "munch & bounce" sessions to curated dinners, KISKA is a taste of something intimate and collective all at once. You can swing by our pop-ups to buy tasty treats to enjoy right there or to take home.

DETAILS

Dinner, picnic, pop up coffee shop, a kiosk

SPECIAL THANKS

Studio Falda, Nila, Kai, R4

Lesbo Erotics

We place the lesbian-queer gaze at the center of the stage, directing works towards queer audiences and lesbian perspectives.

Lesbo Erotics is an artistic project founded in 2022 that organizes lesbian art events in Helsinki. The project explores lesbian and queer physicality and representation through dance and performance art.

In our work, we combine the conventions of stage art and parties into an experimental hybrid. We are interested in different audience relationships, where the audience has agency and where the traditional performance situation transforms into a multi-sensory spectacle.

The Garden Party is a series of performative garden parties where the working group acts as hosts and performers, inviting the audience to participate. In the garden, bodies, text, sound, and the environment create dramaturgies stripped of heteronormativity. Lesbo Erotics aims to dismantle the fetishization and invisibility of the lesbian body caused by heteronormativity. We seek queer logic within the context of contemporary dance and performance art and hosting space.

Thus far, parties have been produced with the following titles...

PART 1: Lesbian Courtship

POV: LESBIAN EROTIC THOUGHTS FORM IN RELATION TO EMOTIONAL REGULATION, JUDGEMENT AND CONSENT

While preparing for this party we were discussing what lesbian courtship is for us. Intense eye contact, poetry, and lingering caresses, tension, fully giving into and surrendering to the now of relationships, passions and excitements.

PART 2: Vibrations in relation

POV: LIQUID IDENTITIES, SHAKING BEING, SOLID INTENTIONS

Fighting post pleasure shame, talking about wants, needs, pleasures, desires, feels. Creating connections with friction and intensity. Wrestling, slippery lesbian bodies, bathing and playing in public.

PART 3: (after, community, self, take) care

POV: GROUNDING CARE, MAGIC, RESISTANCE

While preparing to the third party we have practised and talked about boundaries, negotiation, consent and kink culture. About support, magic and its role in healing. Traditions, identifying and exposing patterns of power, relationships and pleasure.

PART 4, 2024: Still Thirsty

POV: LOW EFFORT; HIGH REWARD

While preparing for the party, we have been talking about things such as yearning, tension, almost kissing, moments before other moments, preparing, negotiation, fantasies, it being what it is but what even is it and suspense.

DETAILS

FORMAT:
performance, event

DURATION:
180:00 min

LANGUAGE:
ENGLISH / FINNISH

CONTENT NOTES

identity politics, sexual content

ADDITIONAL CREDITS

PERFORMANCE AND CO-PRODUCTION:

Moriamo Ahmed
Iiris Laakso
Johanna Karlberg
Kaisa Rajahalme

EXHIBITED

Helsinki Pride 2023 / Lapinlahden lähde

Helsinki Pride 2024 / Lapinlahden lähde

SPECIAL THANKS

PHOTO DOCUMENTATION:

Roza Ahmad, Patricia Carlitos, Säde Rinne & Sonia Dally

MADE POSSIBLE BY, FUNDINGS AND RECIDENCIES: Koneen säätiö, Kutomo

ALL COMMUNITY VOLUNTEERS!!

OWN Your Pride

On the first day of Helsinki Pride month we owned it with radical joy. 1.6.2024 brought focus to our history, the question of ownership and the liberation of our people.

With a lineup of local and international artists as well as discussions and activities around knowing our history. We wanted to take back some ownership of the club spaces and club culture that queer people have always been at the forefront of creating. Especially a space for those individuals, who can’t find their space or representation from the mainstream queer spaces.

DJ line up included international superstars BRAVA (ES), BANJEE (NO), THE CONNECT (SWE), as well as home base legends Yeboyah, post êxistance, Kudelma, Wekesa, trabelsi and suinner.

Performances, workshops and appearances included: Out of Sync, Crush[ing], Lina Jarallah, Eugenie Touma van der Maulen, Lesbo Erotics, FRIENDS OF QUEER HISTORY, QSeduction 101, Quiz: WDYK 'BOUT QUEER S*IT, Queer Hiphop w/ Dj Shy Grl.

Space design by Landys Roimola

OWN your pride was born from the passion for club culture and from the need for an optional pride space: A pride space that works from and for the communities themselves, a space for those individuals, who can’t find their space or representation from mainstream queer spaces.

OWN club nights

Part 1 // OWN - The Reception

OWN: The Reception was held as the official afterparty for the Love Ain’t Fair Kikiball by Kiia Mowalola and Angel Mowalola. The kiki was a celebration of tragedy in love, cause Love is Love, but Love Ain’t Fair and hence we wanted to create an evening for the esteemed wedding guests to come and continue their night after the ball.

A new, temporary community space with a bar and terrace had just opened. R4, in Teurastamo, gave us the opportunity to test how the space works for us and our community.

Night's lineup included familiar faces from the minifestival year prior, Yeboyah and Banjee as well as suinner + trabelsi and a historic club debut at OWN by ESPRNC. The vibe was celebratory and elated. People dressed in their best wedding attires and danced hardd on the tables, behind the DJ booth and on the dance floor.

PART 2 // OWN - Good Communication

The bodies want to talk and pride never ends, so we went for the second time to get that good communication going for our summer flings. R4 provided the space to let our bodies do the talking, whether you came alone or together with someone the dance floor was open for some consensual grinding and collective dancing. The theme called for some good communication, connecting with our desires and communicating through our bodies, minds and spirits.

Lineup included dj cute cumber, one of the most influential doers on the cultural field with magical performance skills known also as Kiia Beilinson or Peter Cunt’dre, alongside suinner + trabelsi.

To help people get better in touch with their needs, wants and boundaries and to help communicate them to each other, we came up with a question game that was available for everyone to use during the night with questions to talk in relation as well as to answer yourself. There was a doodle book for the ones who don’t want to talk and ribbons were provided to tell where you stand about being in relation to other people.

OWN: Good Communication was the first OWN that worked on pay what you can model, a factor we work on to keep as an option also in the future. The atmosphere was thicc from the hot summer night and sweaty bodies grinding close to each other, connecting, conversing, singing, swaying, communicating through movement. The dance floor was full all night.

Part 3 // OWN - The trouble

As all good things come in three (do they?)
We wanted to end the summer of OWN, with a third party. Closing up the summer fling and saying our goodbyes to R4 that had treated us so sweetly.

As a completion to the trilogy we wanted to give space for all the difficult feelings that come up during our relationships to yourself, to people around you and the surrounding world -, the trouble. How does it feel to sing so sick to your ex safely or stomp to your revenge song together, this night was a space for you to feel and connect - moving always with consent and respect.

Lineup included dj Craftybitch and dj Wekesa alongside yours truly. We also had the pleasure of having the sweet presence of our safer spaces host Genesis, helping and holding us with the possible overwhelm, for the night.

This time the dance floor felt intimate, regulars were dancing from the moment we opened the doors. We did a little singalong to Cheechynas Peggy and made space for screaming out our needs. We shared the date with a lot of parties around town, weddings, birthday parties, summer endings, but our community found their way to us regardless. Thankful of you and hopeful for so many stories in the future!

DETAILS

FORMAT:
performance, event, talks, workshop, club

DURATION:
320:00 min

LANGUAGE:
ENGLISH / FINNISH

CONTENT NOTES

identity politics, sexual content, club culture

SPECIAL THANKS

SAFER SPACES HOSTS:

Harmony, Uni, Fiona, Genesis, Noia, Venla, Maria

CONSTRUCTION VOLUNTEERS:

Elis, Jael, Melissa, Ilkka

PHOTO DOCUMENTATION:

Patricia Carlitos, Suinner, Helmi Padatsu

MADE POSSIBLE BY:

Ääniwalli, Hobo Hotel, Beyond Retro

The Norm – Episode 1

The Norm – Episode 1 deals with the actions and emotions connected to physically fitting the norm.

Throwback to the weight loss fad of the 90s: cling film wrapping in the laundry room, along with dry brushing/industrial cleaning products on skin. Wrapping was done in the sauna, under one’s clothes or before exercising and it is still used as popular means of weight loss for extreme definition before 2000’s “healthy is the new skinny -era”. The skin sweats under the wrap and removes fluids, thus creating an illusion of permanent changes in weight. However, no one ever told us that the change isn’t permanent, that toxins gather under the skin while wrapping. Nobody told us that it could lead to an allergic reaction at best and death at worst.

Wrapping doesn’t solve, neither does dry brushing cellulite.

An installation is built around this video work of domestic objects also displayed in the video to unite the inside and outside. It asks how immune/active players are we in these fads, where does the line of participant and a viewer end and what is the norm trying to fit the norm. When displayed its ultimate purpose is to unapologetically take space in institutions, something that is usually not allowed for marginalised bodies to do. With their work, as always the collective wishes to question what kind of voices, works or bodies are seen within the context of art.

DETAILS

FORMAT:
video, installation, soundscape

DURATION:
09:00 min

LANGUAGE:
ENGLISH / FINNISH

CONTENT NOTES

weight loss, violence, an heavy bass ambiance

ADDITIONAL CREDITS

Film production assistance : Fiona Eloné

EXHIBITED

Flow Festival /
August 2019

Ateneum Art Museum / October 2019

Club U-Haul

a request to commit to good vibes, safer party spaces and to revolutionary dancefloors.

The club's purpose is to serve qbiopoc community, to make you feel free and enjoy your body, dance in a revolutionary way. Our club's name comes from the lesbian term uhauling, which is a stereotype of lesbians who move quickly in a relationship, either emotionally or sexually and/or move in quickly together physically.

The club started from two needs: to hear amapiano and to be a lesbian in a club. After that came the fact that we love dancefloors and to facilitate a good dance will always be more important to us than a pushing individual artist's ego. In U-Haul besides amapiano you can hear genres like Afro/rnb/hiphop/dancehall/queer anthems and remixes according to that nights theme wherever the dj takes you with an extra flavour of nothing is too serious; except liberation. What adds to our club's unique sound is. Their own approach is about hosting and creating soundscapes together with the guest DJ. At U-Haul MCing works as guidance for party people but also for the artists themselves and helps you to celebrate life and let go to the fullest!

At Club U-Haul our priority, on top of creating GREAT parties with good music, is to make sure we emphasize safety and safer club experiences, especially to marginalized people. Club U-Haul is a request to commit to good vibes, safer party spaces and to revolutionary dancefloors. We encourage people to mind the space you take if you attend our party outside of marginalized identities.

HALLOWEEN 2022

DETAILS

FORMAT:
club concept

LANGUAGE:
ENGLISH / FINNISH

CONTENT NOTES

community, BIPOC queer

SPECIAL MENTIONS

CO-ORGANIZER:

Sophia Wekesa

SAFER SPACES HOSTS:

Genesis, Maria, Saana, Angel, Fiona, Susani, Jasmina, Angel, Lauriina, Fiona, Ilkka, Ari, Lotta

PHOTO DOCUMENTATION:

Helmi Padatsu, Patricia Carlitos, Caroline Suinner

MEMORIES OF NATURE
(REST GARDEN ROSE)

"What will be left of our discos?

If there is no understanding of what nature looks/looked like, how do we imagine it?
What materials will it be built from?
Will all that remain be fire blankets, the remnants of fishing, and the mirror balls of millennials?"

Taking the time for self-reflection—examining and recognizing one's own flaws and strengths—helps an individual understand not only themselves but the world around them.

The healthier and stronger we are as individuals, the more resources we have to invest in the collective well-being of our communities. This allows us to re-establish our lost connection to the environment and discover more natural ways to live. For us, a good life means being grounded in ourselves and honoring our bodies, not contributing to false hyper individualism. It means developing our own communities and getting plenty and plenty of rest.

DETAILS

FORMAT:
installation

MATERIALS:
20:00 min

CONTENT NOTES

manifesto, loitering

EXHIBITED

Project was ordered for Puistokatu4 opening / August 2023

B2B2B2B: Nobody Plays Alone

Every set is a conversation, a challenge, and a collaborative moment best experienced deep on the dance floor.

We wanted to celebrate the pure, unifying energy of spontaneous musical conversations. B2B2B2B is a DJ-based concept where no one plays alone; you always share the decks with someone else. We want to bring back real unity: between the music, the DJs, and the dancers.

The back-to-back-to-back-to-bacccck format is, at its core, a collaborative undertaking that dates back to the origins of DJing. It was born out of community and a necessity to share equipment and time. It is not a competition, but a dynamic, live art form that thrives on communication and fun.

The format encourages spontaneity, as DJs react on the fly to each other's selections, creating a performance unique to that specific moment and space.

This dynamic thrives on switches, energy movement, and shared musical knowledge. There's no prep required—just a commitment to showing up and sharing what you've got in the moment, fostering a collective, improvisational experience where everyone connects and nobody dances alone.

For the very first time, we brought together some of the most exciting selectors for some spontaneity and shared rhythm. The concept is simple: two or more of your favorite DJs linking up, breaking down genre boundaries to focus on the energy and joy of playing together.

Deep dives, unexpected journeys, and cross-pollination between sounds.

The night featured three pairs of ya favourites:

WEKESA b2b JOSEYSRADIOS delivered deep Amapiano grooves nestled within a bass-driven soundscape, a non-stop blend of classics, edits, and remixes.

SALA b2b KOFU explored unapologetically silly, goofy, and sexy global club sounds, leaning heavily on various electronic genres, high-intensity tunes, and a massive dose of heart-stopping bass.

SUINNER b2b TRABELSI took us through a journey of afro tech/house, UK, and SWANA sounds, packed with known tracks and their own remixes.

The room was full with the feeling of connection, a night dedicated to the collaborative spirit of the dance and the music that brings us together.

Spontaneous sound journeys of B2B2B2B returned for a second round! Taking over the intimate atmosphere of Kaiku's small quarters, August 30th we met in Kammari for a dedicated night of pure B2B action.

Guests experienced improvised sets, deep dives into personal collections, and collective journeys through rhythm, where the dialogue between the DJs was the main event.

The second edition featured a powerhouse lineup that blended their worlds: YEBO, TRABELSI, SUINNER, and special guests Teo, Sala, and dj Karaftybitch. The Kammari was filled with the sound of spontaneous connections unfolding on the decks, proving once again that Nobody Plays Alone!

DETAILS

FORMAT: club concept

SAFER SPACES FOR: Unhad Conversations

AMSTERDAM

The Safer Spaces for Unhad Conversations is a method and workshop created by The Soft Collective to tell perspectives and create conversation around the current situations of people from the margins of margins.

Safer Spaces For Unhad Conversations work created in Amsterdam reflects what it’s like to be a caretaker and sustaining force of one’s community, and at the same time an independent creator, influencer and activist. What is the relationship between nurturing, being nurtured and our own limits? From these themes we ended up discussing three main topics Mirroring a crisis, Love (in relation) and Tripping (to self). These were made into a series of audio and video recordings produced at the workshop using as a guideline Unhad Convesations methods.

In Amsterdam edition, spring/summer 2023 we had the honor to visit many cultural institutions and events that thrive with segregated agendas focusing especially bipoc art and met locals who we discussed local needs and feelings according to care and the sustaining forces and resistance together when the world situations pull us further apart. The Safer Spaces For Unhad Conversations workshop was implemented in cooperation with the Finnish Cultural Institute for the Benelux. Safer Spaces For Unhad Conversations for Together Again is a continuation of the workshop organised 2021 in London.

.MP4 RECORDING

Video Compilation of current, written and spoken thoughts of marginalized experiences. Created MAY 2023 at Unhad Conversations Amsterdam in collaboration with Zulu Green and The Soft Collective.

Zulu Green

Zulu Green, an Amsterdam based rapper, singer and songwriter. A Black Magic Queer Prince, a Gemini. The duality and paradox of the sign, combined with a dash of spirituality, reflects through her music. With their music and artistry they want to represent Queer folx that don't fit the margin of any system or social construct. Or just people that are into good music. Zulu Green describes himself as a vibration translator whose music varies from 90's flavored R&B to new age trappy tunes.

.MP3 RECORDING

Written and spoken thoughts of marginalized experiences narrated by Zulu Green

suinner + trabelsi