What can be discovered when exploring new cities with children as guides and storytellers? One can see behind the face of the city. Beckie Darlington and Andy Field know this well – their first encounter with Oulu is through the children of Oulu.
“Is Oulu further north than Reykjavik?” asked the artists arriving from London. The map can be misleading, so they had to check. The difference isn’t huge—Oulu is about 100 km further north than Reykjavik. Andy Field and Beckie Darlington had arrived in the northernmost city they’ve ever visited. Ahead of them was an intense week with local children. Their collaboration with the children’s culture centre began last spring with The Book of Oulu project. The goal was to involve school classes from across the Oulu region. The schools in Salonpää and Martinniemi represent the geographical extremes. In total, 10 classes from eight schools participated. In spring, the children completed a wide-ranging set of tasks created by Andy and Beckie, stepping into both real and imagined worlds. They told stories, dreamed, and imagined. They revealed, lamented, and played. Imagination was just as welcome as truth—and vice versa. The most important thing was their own perspective on their hometown, Oulu. Now, they would be the guides and storytellers.
If children were in charge
The Book of Oulu will not be a book made by children for other children, but a book for all who are young at heart—and especially for adults. Field and Darlington aim to create playful and new ways for adults and children to talk, think, and imagine together. “The thing that children teach us again and again during our projects is about the importance of fun. Fun is a lot of things but possibly more than anything it is about the pleasure we allow ourselves to take in the world. Fun is about approaching the world with an unselfconscious curiosity.” the artists say enthusiastically. Seriousness should be set aside when reading The Book of Oulu, but its content should not be taken lightly. That’s the twist. It reveals children’s wildest and most whimsical dreams, while also offering a close look at quiet backyard streets or the neighbour’s dog, who is clearly smarter than its owner. The book shows what Oulu is like in the eyes of children—and what it could be like if they were in charge.
Children as Editors of the Book
Upon arriving in Oulu, Andy and Beckie visited schools, took photos and recordings, and worked on the book’s content together with the children. An “editorial team” was formed from children in different classes, who collaborated via Teams meetings. As editors, they refined the content and represented all the children involved in the project. They worked on the book’s foreword and selected images and themes for illustrator Johanna Ilander.
In Oulu, children have a strong connection to their environment
Andy Field and Beckie Darlington feel there’s something for the space that is made for the children’s imagination to be more present within their experience of the city. Throughout the Book of Oulu project, the artists came to see how deeply connected Oulu’s children are to nature. Most of their experiences, playtime, and attention were focused on the surrounding nature. “Children talk about parks, freedom, and being free,” Andy describes. “Parks and forests are open, unprogrammatic spaces that allow for discovery, imagination, and freedom. And maybe that’s why they’re so important to children—and to all of us.”
The Book of Oulu is one of Andy Field and Beckie Darlington’s artistic projects aimed at creating space for encounters and communication between adults and children. “By making space for children’s very different conception of the world we believe adults can be challenged to reflect on and even rethink their own ideas and beliefs.” Andy and Beckie want to create situations where children are heard with the same seriousness that adults usually reserve for other adults. This, for them, is the value and purpose of art.
The Book of Oulu, along with its exhibitions, will be on display at Kotilo throughout the year 2026.
More information
Contact:
Meri Kallio
Producer-Curator
Children´s Cultural Centre Kotilo
meri.kallio@ouka.fi
+358 40 353 8091
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