The ARToulu art area turns the city into a stage and invites the people of Oulu to encounter art in the midst of everyday life. The newly published event calendar brings together the spring and summer performances, guided tours and workshops that will spread across Oulu’s streets, squares and shores from May into autumn.

In May, the programme of performances continues with Karoliina Loimaala’s site-specific dance piece CHARGE, which transforms the body into a metaphor for energy production. This tingling, physically intense work explores ways of recharging and embodies itself as human batteries. The piece premiered in Kalasatama in 2024, and in Oulu it will be performed by a group of six dancers on 16–17 May in front of the Oulu City Theatre and the central library Saari.

Gabriella Presnal’s performance ”Memory Wash” will be presented on 20 May at 17:00 at the tip of Kiikeli. Presnal washes and tends to a garment woven from recycled cables — a gesture that highlights the caring nature of household tasks while calling attention to disappearing cultural heritage.

On the 5th June by Patosilta, audiences and passersby will encounter something entirely different: Timo Viialainen’s performance Dry, which uses the sounds produced by dry ice and aluminium to create a unique, pre-linguistic soundscape. Viialainen has worked internationally in the fields of sound and performance art since 2011, exploring experiences that arise within a capitalist environment.

Summer brings tours, walks and workshops

Kimmo Ylönen’s work Tiedon vihreä lippu (“The Green Flag of Knowledge”) draws attention to the wellbeing of local streams and, by extension, the state of waters around the world. In May, Ylönen will host workshops where participants build small watermills to be installed in the Plaanaoja stream. The workshops are suitable for adults or for children accompanied by an adult. Registration for the free workshops is now open. Read more from article: Sign up for the free Watermill Workshop.

The permanent, site-specific works of the ARToulu art area will be completed by 10 June. From June to August, public tours, guided visits and workshops will offer opportunities to explore the new public artworks and the stories behind them. The schedule of events will be updated in the art area’s event calendar during May.

You can find the event calendar on this link or on our front page.

The ARToulu art area is a public art project by the Oulu Artists’ Association -63 and part of the official programme of Oulu’s European Capital of Culture year. The project is funded by the Oulu Culture Foundation, the Ministry of Education and Culture, and the Oulu Artists’ Association -63.

Oulu is the European Capital of Culture in 2026, together with 39 northern municipalities. The programme offers world-class experiences from near, far and everything in between. The ARToulu art area is part of the Oulu2026 cultural programme and the cultural climate change.