Climate Clock
Public art trail in Oulu featuring world-renowned artists
Artworks created by world leading Finnish and international artists will form a permanent art route around Oulu. Each unique location offers a moment of reflection and hope for the future.
What is it about?
Climate Clock is one of the most significant productions of the Oulu2026 European Capital of Culture year, where art intertwines with the theme of climate change, highlighting the nature of time and global warming in Northern Finland. Six permanent artworks will be located in Haukipudas, Kiiminki, Oulu city centre, Oulunsalo, Yli-Ii, and Ylikiiminki. Alongside these permanent artworks is The Most Valuable Clock in the World, a new artwork co-created with the local communities by renowned artists Tellervo Kalleinen and Oliver Kochta-Kalleinen.
These seven artworks highlight the resilience and adaptability of nature. Climate Clock works will be located – with the exception of Oulu city – in natural settings such as forests, rivers and seashores, highlighting local pride in the surroundings. In each location, the artworks will invite us to consider what we can do now, in the present moment, to preserve and strengthen our connection to nature. Each work reflects an artistic vision of how we can combine our creativity and responsibility. The commissioned artists will work with scientists as they develop their work, gaining new insights into the science behind climate issues in the region.
The climate clock is ticking, the ice is melting, and we are learning anew what our forebears knew – that time is not ours to command; that nature keeps its own time. For centuries, nature in the Oulu region has been a central part of our identity, yet climate change now reshapes it profoundly.
Participate in 'The Most Valuable Clock in the World'
We're creating the world's most valuable clock right here in Oulu, and we need you to make it happen!
Tellervo Kalleinen and Oliver Kochta-Kalleinen are inviting people in Oulu to co-create The Most Valuable Clock in the World. The clock combines 120 personal video moments from residents in the region with 12 precious moments in nature, advised by scientists. This valuable artwork, like our response to climate change, will examine how our personal preferences can be reconciled with societal needs and communal demands.
The final “electromechanical-digital hybrid marvel” clock will be created during 2024-25 with local participants, volunteers, and some of the STEAM schools in Oulu. The clock will be unveiled in 2026 and will tour the region, serving as a totally unique reflection on our precious day-to-day moments at different times of the day and during the yearly cycle.
Tellervo Kalleinen and Oliver Kochta-Kalleinen are an artist duo living currently in Helsinki, Finland. They merge languages and approaches of a number of disciplines, such as film, performance, game design, experimental education, facilitation and social architecture. Kalleinen & Kochta-Kalleinen are known for their participatory art projects such as Complaints Choirs.
Climate Clock is curated and produced by international top experts
Alice Sharp, Artistic Director of Invisible Dust UK, has worked with artists and scientists on commissions and exhibitions since 2009. She is an international advisor and presenter on arts and climate change, including engagements at Davos 2020, the UN Development Programme in 2019, and hosting the International Association of Corporate Art Collections symposium in 2021.
International producer Claudia Woolgar was engaged by Oulu2026 to assist in shaping the programme for the first Bid Book. Since then, she has been developing the international flagship projects. She has considerable international experience, including steering the complex public art project, the 11 Fountains, for Leeuwarden-Friesland European Capital of Culture 2018 in its early stages.
