Workshops are a part of a larger site specific Moving Blooming Walls urban art work, which will be premiered in Oulu in the fall of 2026.
Joining Walls is a workshop entity where the citizens of Oulu get to explore the everyday urban space. The community art workshops are created by textile artist Sannu Vaarala and dance artist Elina Tähtelä. Workshops are a part of a larger site specific Moving Blooming Walls urban art work, which will be premiered in Oulu in the fall of 2026.
Vaarala and Tähtelä invite citizens for a three day workshop that is organized in collaboration with craft association Taito. During the workshops you get to experiment with three dimensional textile art from recycled textiles by painting and sewing.
Vaarala and Tähtelä are interested in how the citizens of Oulu approach the interaction between the built and natural environment. Our environment is layered and constantly changing. When we observe it more closely we can find rough, beautiful, worn out or freshly renovated surfaces, to name some examples. Exploring the shared space may also create ideas for new spatial possibilities during the cultural capital year.
The finished textile art elements will be part of the 2026 urban art performance, and the works will be returned to their creators after the show season. A facade of a building is the venue and three-dimensional textile relief surfaces produced in the workshops get to join in on manipulating its essence, communicating nature’s unrestrained and unruly forms. The dancing mural does not leave behind a physical monument, but aims to awaken new dimensions and opportunities to experience and live in one’s nearby environment.
Something once built can bloom again!
