Exhibition series explores contemporary northern and Arctic phenomena during Oulu2026 European Capital of Culture

Parallel Norths is a monthly changing international exhibition series presented during Oulu’s year as the European Capital of Culture in 2026. The series highlights contemporary phenomena and critical questions related to northern and Arctic regions through art, design, research, and art education. The series is opened with the Sustainability Seals exhibition.

The Parallel Norths: Shared Ecocultural Entanglements exhibition series presents artistic processes by artists, art educators, and designers who are affiliated with the University of the Arctic (UArctic) thematic network on Arctic Sustainable Arts and Design (ASAD). Throughout the year, the exhibition series will feature artists from eight countries, emphasising the international and cross-border cooperation of the UArctic.

Approaching the northern and Arctic regions from an ecocultural perspective, the exhibition foregrounds the complex interconnections between environment, culture, and society. The exhibited works address topical issues such as climate change, the use of natural resources, biodiversity loss, and livelihoods, lifestyles, and identities rooted in northern regions. The works reflect on how ecological changes shape cultural practices and consider the challenges, responsibilities, and possibilities these transformations generate in the present and for the future.

The exhibition series has been curated by Professor Emeritus Timo Jokela from the University of Lapland.

“By placing works created in different countries and across diverse northern regions side by side, the exhibition makes visible the complex and often unseen entanglements of ecosystems and cultures. At the same time, it highlights the importance of international collaboration, shared knowledge, and art in understanding and addressing ecological and cultural challenges,” Jokela say.

Parallel Norths invites audience to pause and engage with the multilayered realities of northern regions, and to examine how art, design, and art education can serve as spaces for critical thinking, dialogue, and the development of ecocultural perspectives that foster hope and a sustainable future.

The exhibition series is part of Oulu2026 European Capital of Culture and supports its goals of strengthening northern expertise, cultural sustainability, and international interaction. Living, borderless Sámi culture is featured extensively within the Oulu2026 programme through concerts, exhibitions, and seminars.

“The ASAD network exhibition series brings forward other Arctic cultures, too,” notes ASAD network leader, Associate Professor Maria Huhmarniemi from the University of Lapland.

“The Arctic region is home to dozens of indigenous cultures, as well as a wide range of minority, dominant, and border cultures. The cultural traditions and contemporary expression of the region are exceptionally rich. Many of these cultures have been subjected to cultural, linguistic, and geopolitical colonialism throughout history. Decolonisation and recognition of communities living in close connection with nature are key themes in the ASAD network’s activities and are also reflected in this exhibition series,” Huhmarniemi emphasises.

The series opens with an exhibition linked to Greenland

The exhibition series opens with the Sustainability Seals exhibition. The works in the exhibition were created through joint workshops combining art and social psychology in Nuuk, the capital of Greenland, and in the Inuit communities of Narsaq and Maniitsoq.

The works create encounters with the landscape, the community, and with young people. They examine ecoculture as the entanglement of nature, people, and culture – as a force that shapes identity, a living heritage, and the foundation for a sustainable future. The exhibition features productions by Timo Jokela, Mirja Hiltunen, Peter Berliner, Tina Enghoff, and Søren Zeuth, created in collaboration with local communities.

Maria Huhmarniemi, assistant professor at the University of Lapland and director of the ASAD network, emphasises the topical relevance of the exhibition.

“The ASAD network has been developing Arctic art and art education for over a decade. The exhibition focusing on Greenland is particularly timely now when power politics have brought renewed colonialist ambitions toward the region to the forefront of international news coverage,” says Huhmarniemi.

The Sustainability Seals exhibition has been curated by Timo Jokela, professor emeritus at the University of Lapland, who previously served as professor of art education at the University of Lapland, as well as UArctic Chair in Arctic Art and Design, and as the leader of the ASAD network.

The exhibition is on display at Café Antell Piha and the adjacent Takapiha conference room in Oulu (address: Kauppurienkatu 7).

Further information:

Professor Emeritus Timo Jokela
firstname.lastname (at) ulapland.fi