Welcome to Oulu – European Capital of Culture 2026
Named one of the top travel destinations for 2026 by National Geographic, BBC Travel, CNN, AFAR and Condé Nast Traveler.
On the northern coast of Finland, the vibrant seaside city of Oulu invites you to experience a year where world-class art, unforgettable events and beautiful northern nature come together.
Here, culture doesn’t stay only inside museum walls. In Oulu, art appears in unexpected places — a city hall, a cathedral, a shopping centre and, of course, in the middle of northern landscapes.
This is not your typical cultural destination.
Climate Clock
Series of public artworks in Oulu featuring world-renowned artists
Ranti Bam (Nigeria/UK) • Rana Begum (Bangladesh/ UK) • Takahiro Iwasaki (Japan) • Tellervo Kalleinen & Oliver Kochta-Kalleinen (Finland/Germany) • Gabriel Kuri (Mexico/Belgium) • Antti Laitinen (Finland) • SUPERFLEX (Denmark)
Climate Clock is one of the most significant productions of the Oulu2026 European Capital of Culture year, where art intertwines with science and nature to inspire environmental awareness and reconnect us with nature’s time. The project has gained significant international attention, most recently featured by The New York Times for Earth Day.
Six permanent artworks are set across forests, rivers, coastal landscapes and urban environments in the Oulu region, alongside The Most Valuable Clock in the World — a participatory work by Tellervo Kalleinen & Oliver Kochta-Kalleinen, created with local communities. Together, the works explore our relationship with time, nature, and a changing climate.
Curated by Alice Sharp (Invisible Dust)
Programmed by International Producer Claudia Woolgar
Open from 13 June onwards
Jakob Kudsk Steensen
Site-specific installation exploring the botanical afterlife beneath the city
Launching in September 2026, Danish artist Jakob
Kudsk Steensen unveils a major installation that draws on Finnish mythologies about the afterlife and botanical seed banks — places where life and memory continue in suspended animation.
Blending folklore, artificial environments, and ongoing ecological shifts, the work asks whether humanity has created a new form of life beyond nature — a fragile world that may outlive us. Built with advanced game engine technology, it invites audiences into a simulated botanical world where extinct and endangered plants continue to exist. The work will be experienced deep
beneath the city in Oulu’s central underground car park.
Steensen’s recent and forthcoming exhibitions include the solo presentation of The Song Trapper 2025 for Fondation Louis Vuitton, his first solo presentation Otherworlds at PHI Centre Montreal from 23 April to 13 September 2026, and Berl-Berl as part of the 9th Thessanoliki Biennale 23 May – 05 July 2026.
Oulu2026 exhibition dates:
18 September – 30 November 2026
The project is programmed and managed by
International Producer Claudia Woolgar.
PLAY – Fotografiska Tallinn x Oulu2026
A Group Exhibition Featuring 17 Artists
Martin Parr • Cristina de Middel Susan Meiselas • Jouko Lehtola • Bruce Davidson • Roger Ballen • Nina Katchadourian • Sage Sohier • Trent Parke • Christopher Herwig • Karolina Wojtas • Niccolo Rastrelli • Joosep Kivimäe • Mathias Väärsi • Pelle Cass • Louis– Philippe Rondeau • Deanna Dikeman • Erki Pärnoja
Exhibition PLAY challenges the idea that play belongs only to childhood. While digital play flourishes today, the exhibition turns to forms that are quietly fading: embodied, face-to-face, unscripted. Through the works of 17 international artists, it presents play as a powerful mindset that shapes how we engage with the world and connect with others.
Tickets: €17 / €12, free for under-18 visitors
accompanied by an adult.
Pekuri Shopping Centre, 2nd Floor, Oulu
Open daily
14 January – 31 December 2026
Layers in the Peace Machine
A Multidisciplinary Media-Installation
An immersive and multidisciplinary media-installation by Ekho Collective, entangling technology and art. Based on the literary work ”Peace Machine” by late Timo Honkela, the installation portrays peace as a dynamic process, that shifts and evolves with the interactionfrom the participants.
Layers in The Peace Machine encourages the participant to reflect on their own relationship with peace and peace-related questions. What sort of memories, images and emotions arise? How to work
towards a more peaceful world in everyday life?
Transforming multiple spaces at the Oulu City Hall, the artwork sheds light on the multifaceted concept of “building peace”. It offers diverse means to interact with the installation and other participants, through language, movement, senses and cognition.
Free of charge! At the Oulu City Hall until 31 December.
Earworm
Media Art from Kiasma
The exhibition presents a selection of video works in which music and sound are integral to the atmosphere and narrative. The video works spread out into the space through sound, making the experience multisensory.
Earworm, curated from the collection of the Finnish
National Gallery, features works by Mika Taanila, Pipilotti Rist, Raakel Kuukka, Dora Dalila Cheff, Otto Byström and Jaakko Pietiläinen. Spanning different decades, the works highlight the close relationship between media art and the technologies and digital culture of their time, including the Internet, television, pop music and video games.
Free of charge! At the Oulu City Hall until 31 December.
Exhibitions to experience
Oulu2026 for Media
We are here to help!
Access our media bank for photos and videos, find media accreditation details, and explore the latest press releases. Stay up to date by subscribing to our news. Browse images from our cultural programme and events, with related press materials available in each folder, and find key contacts for international media enquiries.
Plan your visit
Welcome to Oulu – European Capital of Culture 2026
Getting here is easy. Oulu is well connected by air and rail. Several flights operate daily between Helsinki and Oulu, and the one-hour flight is the fastest way to reach our northern seaside city.
You can also hop on a train or bus and enjoy the Nordic landscapes along the way. The fastest trains connect Helsinki and Oulu in just 5.5 hours, while the quickest bus journeys take 8–9 hours across Finland.
Art in the arctic darkness
Arriving later in the year?
As autumn deepens and the northern nights grow longer, Oulu transforms into a striking stage for art, light and immersive experiences. Darkness becomes part of the show.
In autumn 2026, the international Lumo Art & Tech Festival brings together art and technology across the city from light and sound installations to experimental digital works presented in unexpected venues. The beloved Lumo Light Festival illuminates the city with large-scale light artworks. This annual event attracts around 100,000 visitors each year, and during the European Capital of Culture year it will grow even bigger, longer and shine on an even more international stage.
One of the season’s highlights is Beyond the Sky, a spectacular collaboration by Oulu Sinfonia that combines astrophotography by Jukka-Pekka Metsävainio with a powerful musical composition by Lauri Porra, conducted by Dalia Stasevska.
The cultural year culminates in December with the world premiere of Snowball, a magical family musical set in the land of the Northern Lights and performed at Oulu Hall.
Even in the darkest months of the year, Oulu shines with art, light and imagination.
About Oulu
- Authentic Finnish sauna culture, from riverside saunas to floating sauna rafts
- European Capital of Culture 2026
- Finland’s fifth-largest city with over 200,000 residents
- North Finland’s oldest city, founded in 1605
- Located on the northern coast of the Gulf of Bothnia
- Gateway to northern Finland and close to the Arctic Circle
- A university and technology city, known for innovation and companies like Nokia and Oura
- Nature at your doorstep — forests, islands, sea and national parks nearby
- Self-proclaimed cycling capital with extensive bike routes
- A vibrant food scene through Arctic Food Lab
Subscribe to our Newsletter!
In our newsletter, we provide updates of the upcoming events and news from the European Capital of Culture 2026 and the upcoming events driving cultural climate change in the North. You will receive a letter from us about once a month!
