The Kuutar Garden
Live simulation and spatialised sound.
A site-specific installation by Jakob Kudsk Steensen reimagines the Kivisydän car park beneath Oulu city centre as a virtual world of botanical afterlife.
18.9.–30.11.2026
Open Mon–Sat 11–19, Sun 11–18
Oulu, Kivisydän
Tickets 10 € + booking fees in Lippu.fi
About the exhibition
The Kuutar Garden transforms the Botanical Garden of the University of Oulu, its seed vault, and endangered plant narratives into a living virtual ecosystem.
Beneath the city, in the underground Kivisydän car park, the installation unfolds as a spatial environment shaped by more than four years of ecological fieldwork in Northern Finland. Since 2023, Jakob Kudsk Steensen has worked in Oulu and its surroundings, where the Botanical Garden of the University of Oulu and the region’s distinctive northern light — especially moonlight — have become key influences.
The work draws on plant collections, seed archives and conservation research, including the endangered aquatic plant Hippuris tetraphylla. It also incorporates a virtual reconstruction of Oulu’s Botanical Garden pyramids, where fragments of decades of botanical knowledge are reassembled for visitors to explore.
Visitors enter an immersive world inspired by one of the world’s northernmost botanical gardens. Musical elements of the simulation are created in collaboration with Danny L Harle and Lugh O’Neill. The underground space becomes a spectral garden where light, sound and movement guide the visitor through shifting plant-based environments.
Kuutar
Kuutar refers to a figure from Karelian-Finnish and Baltic-Finnish folklore, known through the Kalevala and Kanteletar. Associated with the moon, nature and cycles of life, she is sometimes described as a weaver of golden threads.
In The Kuutar Garden, this figure becomes an architect of memory — part seed archive, part ecological system, part speculative future. Here, plants act as messengers between past and future, science and mythology, forming a continuously evolving virtual ecosystem.
Info
Opening hours
Mon–Sat 11–19 & Sun 11–18
Tickets
10 euros + booking fees (starting at €1.50 + 0.65% of the order at www.lippu.fi). Free for under-18s accompanied by an adult.
Free of charge with Kaikukortti card.
No booking fees when you buy tickets at the exhibition.
Arrival
The exhibition is located in block A2 of the Oulu Kivisydän underground parking facility.
For pedestrians, the street-level entrance is via the Karhi lift connection in Otto Karhi Park (Hallituskatu 13–17). The nearest bus stop is Otto Karhi P (Bus Routes A, B and C).
For visitors arriving by car, access is through the entrance to block A2. Enter via the left-hand entrance of block A. Other entrances to block A will be closed to traffic during the exhibition period.
Parking
The exhibition is located in block A2 of Kivisydän parking carage. For visitors arriving by car, the nearest parking area is block B of Kivisydän.
Additional parking information (opens in a new window): Parking in Oulu – Oulun Pysäköinti Oy
Kivisydän map (picture opens in a new window) Kartta-Kivisydan.png (1920×1375)
Throughout Kivisydän, two extra-wide parking spaces are located immediately next to each lift connection.
Until 3 December 2026, the Otto Karhi lift connection will be reserved exclusively for access to the exhibition space. The nearest lift connections between street level and the parking facility are located at Rotuaari (Kirkkokatu 15) and Valkea Shopping Centre (Isokatu 25).
Physical accessibility
Both entrances to the exhibition are accessible for e.g. wheelchair users. For visitors arriving by car, the nearest parking area is block B of Kivisydän. Two extra-wide parking spaces are available immediately next to each lift connection.
The exhibition space can also be accessed from street level via the Karhi lift (Hallituskatu 13–17). The nearest bus stop is Otto Karhi P (Bus Routes A, B and C). A taxi stand is located at Hallituskatu 15, in front of Restaurant Sarkka.
All entrances are at least 80 cm wide. Entrance areas are fitted with floor mats, and there is a low threshold at these points. The thresholds are marked on the floor with white tape.
At the A2 parking garage entrance, the exhibition area is separated from the parking garage area by curtains. Staff are available to assist visitors when needed. From the Otto Karhi lift, access to the exhibition is via a dimly lit corridor leading to automatic sliding doors.
The exhibition space has mainly a flat, hard concrete floor. In two locations within the exhibition space there are low concrete structures (approximately 4 cm high) which may be difficult to see in low lighting conditions. The larger concrete structure in area A1 is marked with white tape.
Armless seating is available near the projection surfaces for visitors.
There are no restroom facilities within the exhibition space. The nearest accessible toilet is located in the Valkea Shopping Centre. From the Valkea lift connection in Kivisydän, there is direct access to level K1. The accessible toilet is located near the entrance to S-Market Herkku.
If you have any further questions regarding accessibility, please contact:
Inka Hyvönen
Coordinator
+358 40 505 9738
inka.hyvonen@oulu2026.eu
Sensory information
The exhibition includes an audio environment that contains occasional loud and sudden sounds. The exhibition area is separated from the Kivisydän parking garage by curtains; however, sounds from the parking facility may still be heard also in the exhibition space. Visitors may borrow hearing protectors from staff at the entrance desks if needed. An induction loop system is not available in the exhibition space.
The space features low ambient lighting as well as large, bright projection surfaces displaying moving images.
As the exhibition space forms part of the Kivisydän parking facility, conditions may occasionally be dusty and air quality may vary.
If you have any further questions regarding accessibility, please contact:
Inka Hyvönen
Coordinator
+358 40 505 9738
inka.hyvonen@oulu2026.eu
Jakob Kudsk Steensen
Jakob Kudsk Steensen (b. 1987, Denmark) explores ecological and psychological themes. Working with technologies such as game engines, generative systems and photogrammetry, he challenges perspectives on technology, nature and human interaction. His practice is often described as worldbuilding, creating immersive environments for audiences and collaborators to inhabit.
His latest commissions include Wetland at The Museum of Modern Art (2026), The Song Trapper at Fondation Louis Vuitton, Boreal Dreams at Fondation Beyeler, and Psychosphere at Cisternerne (2025). He previously exhibited The Ephemeral Lake at Tokyo’s Mori Museum (2025) following its premiere at Hamburg’s Hamburger Kunsthalle (2024), and participated in the 2024 Gwangju Biennale with Berl-Berl. Other notable solo exhibitions include Berl-Berl (LAS, Halle am Berghain, 2021) and Catharsis (Serpentine Galleries, London, 2020).
He is also one of the artists at Helsinki Biennial from 6 June to 19 September 2027.
Team
Andrea Familari (IT) — Technical Producer
New media artist working with generative processes across theatre, music, performance and contemporary art. His practice explores noise, systems and emergent structures across different media.
Liz Kircher (USA) — Co-Producer
Long-term collaborator of Steensen, with expertise in ecology, sustainability and material systems, focusing on human–environment relationships.
Alexander Boyes (AUS) — Project Producer / Studio Management
Multidisciplinary producer working with artist- and research-led teams. Has collaborated with institutions ranging from the Francis Crick Institute to Serpentine Arts Technologies.
Wouter Weynants (BE) — Lead Technical Developer
Works closely with Steensen on large-scale XR projects, including Berl-Berl, Liminal Lands and Primal Tourism.
Lugh O’Neill (IE) — Sound Artist
Sound and spatial designer working with spatialisation as a compositional tool, treating space as an active dimension of sound.
The Kuutar Garden is a production of Oulu2026 European Capital of Culture, programmed by Claudia Woolgar (NL).
Making it happen
