Featured in the Oulu2026 programme, the international piece MANUAL invites visitors to slow down at Oulu Main Library. Created for one person at a time, this sensory journey blends sound, books, and an encounter with a stranger.
When we head to the library, we usually know what we are doing: borrowing books, working, studying, browsing the daily papers, or seeking peace and quiet.
However, MANUAL, conceptualised by Canadian artists Christopher Willes and Adam Kinner, aims to examine these habitual patterns. Arriving at Oulu Main Library Saari in September (9–12 September 2026), the piece is an intimate performance experienced by one audience member at a time. The participant receives instructions to arrive at the library and encounter a stranger there. Guided by a soundscape playing through headphones and suggestions, the participant is immersed in the materials and space of the library.
Having premiered in Montreal in 2022 the piece has toured the world from London to Tokyo and Bangkok to Switzerland. It is now presented in Oulu as a co-production between Kulttuuriosuuskunta ILME’s Täältä taiteeseen travel agency and the Kuopio-based ANTI Festival, as part of the Oulu2026 European Capital of Culture programme.
”Like a gentle, psychedelic library performance.”
With a twinkle in their eye, the creators describe the piece as an unusual sensory journey.
– We jokingly call this a “psychedelic library performance”. It is a soft, quiet experience that weaves together sound and images. Rather than seeing the library merely as a place for reading and studying, the work turns attention towards the participant’s inner world and body through a subtle sensuality, Adam Kinner describes.
Christopher Willes emphasizes the significance of encounter:
– The work is experienced by one person at a time, and a guide leads you through a sensory journey. A stranger finds you, and the performance itself creates a framework for an encounter with someone you have never met before.
Rooted in the library shelves
Although the concept has toured globally, the performance experienced in Oulu is site-specific and therefore unique. The materials used in the piece, such as books, texts, and photographs, are selected from the host library’s own collections.
In Oulu, the performers and material curators are dance artists Heta Haapsamo, Ella Valkola, and Suvi Rinkineva (along with Nella Turkki, who took part in the process). The Canadian duo instructed the artists to delve into the shelves in search of themes that resonate on both a universal and local level.
– We look for texts that fall into certain categories. The selection includes thoughts from Renee Gladman (USA), John Berger (UK), and Lisa Robertson (CAN), among others. The books feature images of local forests, bodies of water, and natural phenomena that are carried along by the audio, Willes explains.
Dance artist Heta Haapsamo describes the selection process as sensory and intuitive:
– I chose books largely based on images that caught my interest within the given framework. I was particularly fascinated by the structures of the books and their diverse surface textures. Photography books were also chosen simply because they called out to me and slipped effortlessly into the theme, the artist recounts.
Room for pause and surprise
In today’s world, where our attention is constantly fragmented by smart devices and daily rush, MANUAL serves as a sort of handbook for deceleration.
– I hope that over the course of 50 minutes, the participant gets to experience a moment with a stranger, permission to be calm and quiet, and to be gently guided. This is an opportunity to explore one’s relationship with books, reading, images, and what being in a library can feel like, Willes reflects.
Oulu-based dance artist Haapsamo shares a similar outlook, hoping the experience leaves a lingering impression:
– I hope this experience heightens the senses and opens up an inner space for something that has simply been waiting for room to emerge.
FACTS:
MANUAL
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- What: An intimate, sensory performance for one participant at a time
- Where: Central Library Saari, Oulu Main Library
- When: 9–12 September 2026
- Duration: 50 minutes. Departures every 20 minutes: Wed–Fri 10:30–18:10, Sat 10:30–14:50
- Price: FREE OF CHARGE. Booking required via Fienta.
- Concept and direction: Christopher Willes and Adam Kinner (Canada)
- Performers in Oulu: Dance artists Heta Haapsamo, Ella Valkola, and Suvi Rinkineva
- Organisers: Kulttuuriosuuskunta ILME’s Täältä taiteeseen travel agency and ANTI Festival
- Reservations: fienta.com/s/manual
