The guided tours of PLAY offer an insight into the high-quality group exhibition on May 3rd and 17th. The tours are in English and included in the admission fee. No advance booking is required – a warm welcome to all.
Through a multidisciplinary lens of 17 international artists, the exhibition explores play as both a source of joy and a distraction, highlighting moments of delight, resilience, rebellion and connection. Together, the works form a visual journey into play as a deeply human form of expression and a non-verbal language.
The artists featured in the group exhibition are Martin Parr, Cristina de Middel, Susan Meiselas, Jouko Lehtola, Bruce Davidson, Roger Ballen, Nina Katchadourian, Sage Sohier, Trent Parke, Christopher Herwig, Karolina Wojtas, Niccolo Rastrelli, Joosep Kivimäe, Mathias Väärsi, Pelle Cass, Deanna Dikeman and Louis-Philippe Rondeau. Sound design for the exhibition has been composed by musician Erki Pärnoja. The exhibition is curated by Fotografiska Tallinn brand director Jorven Viilik.
Play, shaped by modern culture, has long been treated as a distraction, a passing stage of childhood, even a taboo in adult life. Yet beneath its lightness lies an ageless and powerful mindset that shapes how we engage with the world and connect with others.
Today play flourishes in digital arenas and extends into adulthood more than ever before. At the same time, other forms are already quietly fading from view: the embodied, face-to-face, the unscripted. These are forms that sustain trust and presence, reminding us of the value in what cannot be planned.
This exhibition seeks to reconnect us with unscripted play. To open a space where viewers might discover if or how it has survived in their lives and imagine how it might return in unexpected ways.
The exhibition space and Oulu2026 Info & Shop are located on the second floor of the Pekuri Shopping Centre. Accessible main entrances are from Rotuaari on Kauppurienkatu and from Kirkkokatu. An elevator is available in the lobby at the Kauppurienkatu entrance, providing an accessible route to the second-floor exhibition space. The exhibition area opens into the shopping centre’s atrium, and the exhibition route is fully accessible on one level. Kauppakortteli can also be accessed directly from the Aimo Park Pekuri underground car park, with entry from Torikatu.
Guided tours in English
Sunday May 3, at 4pm
Sunday May 17, at 4pm
Admission fees
General admission: €17, pensioners, unemployed, students, S-card holders and OP owner-customers & Kaleva subscribers: €12. Free for under-18 visitors accompanied by an adult.
