A monthly rotating international exhibition series explores northern and Arctic regions at the intersections of art, research, and pedagogy.
The March exhibition, Fellow Creatures, presents works by Sara Rylander (Sweden) and Niina Oinas (Finland). The artists are united by their use of natural materials, their focus on examining their immediate surroundings on a micro level, and their aim to make the diversity of nature visible through artistic means. Rylander’s enlarged rendering of an endangered butterfly species addreses butterflies, and relationship between species, place, and human perception, as well as how material creation can serve as a way of taking responsibility for what we are at risk of losing. In Oinas’s works, the focus is on the disappearing culture of the northern border regions and the fragility of local identity. Oinas argues that a sustainable future requires a return to our original roots and a critical reflection on history.
Parallel Norths – Shared Eco-Cultural Entanglements is a monthly changing exhibition taking place during Oulu’s European Capital of Culture year. It highlights current phenomena and issues in northern and Arctic regions through art, design, research, and art education.
The exhibition showcases the artistic processes of artists, art educators, and designers from the University of the Arctic (UArctic) Thematic Network on Sustainable Art, Design and Visual Culture Education (ASAD). Throughout the year, contributors from eight different countries will be featured, emphasizing UArctic’s international and cross-border collaboration.
The exhibition series approaches northern and Arctic regions from an eco-cultural perspective, bringing forward the complex interconnections between environment, culture, and society. The exhibited works address timely themes such as climate change, the use of natural resources, biodiversity loss, as well as livelihoods, ways of life, and identities connected to northern regions. The works reflect on how ecological changes affect cultural practices and what kinds of challenges, responsibilities, and opportunities they create in the present and future.
The exhibition is curated by Professor Emeritus Timo Jokela from the University of Lapland, who has previously served as Professor of Art Education, UArctic Chair in Arctic Art and Design, and leader of the ASAD network.
Exhibition venue:
Café Antell Piha and the adjacent Takapiha meeting space
Kauppurienkatu 7, Oulu
Further information:
Timo Jokela, timo.jokela@ulapland.fi
Sara Rylander: ACERBIA ALPINA, Arctic tiger moth
Tufted and sculpted wool, leather antennas
The Arctic tiger moth (Acerbia alpina) occurs in Sweden only on a single mountain peak, Nissuntjårro in the Abisko area. The species is strongly threatened, and ongoing climate change risks completely altering the conditions for its survival. The tufted butterfly is an attempt to give physical presence to something that in nature is both exposed and elusive.
Niina Oinas
Alussa on kaikki/ Everything is at the beginning, 2024
Lahottajat / Decomposers, 2026
Valloitus / Takeover, 2013–2026
Äätj miin ki lak täivest, 2025