In the Oulu 2025 Housing Fair area of Hartaanselänranta, the construction of new terraced and detached houses is progressing well, and the green areas and the Vaakunanranta boulevard along the bank of the Oulu River are being completed for next summer. The art programme has also taken a big step forward: all the works to be completed by the time the fair opens have moved from the drawing board to the realisation stage.
In the winter of 2024, we announced sculptor Jenni Tieaho‘s environmental art installation in the new Holstinpuro Park. At the other end of the park, near the new Hartaansilta bridge, an airy steel sculpture based on the idea of movement, the transfer of matter or energy from one place to another, by Salo-based sculptor Kimmo Schroderus, will also rise in the early summer of 2025. The work will be paid for with art funds from the Housing Fair.
There is also a third work in Holstinpuro Park, a temporary planting by Oulu artist Ari Björn that consists of two parts: a relief in the ground and a planted text component. The organic work is expected to stand out from its surroundings for several years. The artist has received a grant for the work.
Oulun Pysäköinti Oy is building a multi-storey car park in Vaakunakylä with a percentage of art by Helsinki-based sculptor Eetu Huhtala, winner of the Young Artist of the Year 2023 award. Huhtala’s aluminium barrack unit, which appears to hang from the car park’s roof and is attached to a lifting pole, is located on the car park’s Hietasaarentie facade. The work was commissioned by Oulun Pysäköinti Oy.
The City of Oulu’s Environmental Services / Department of Roads and Transport commissioned Oulu sculptor Sakari Matinlauri to design a boat dock gate made of Corten steel and cold-rolled polished steel. Artistic expertise and everyday use are also combined in the design of the motifs for the deep litter bins at the Housing Fair, the work of Sievi-based artist and illustrator Tiina Konttinen. The work was commissioned by Kiertokaari Oy. The illustration design is partly commissioned from the fair’s art fund.
In addition, the electricity sub-centres in the exhibition area will display prints by artists from the Oulu region and the surrounding area in a project funded by the electricity company Oulun Energia and the telecommunications company DNA.
Further commissioned works in the area of the Housing Fair will be announced when funding for the projects is secured. At some point in the years following the fair, apartment blocks will be built in the area, allowing for the creation of new works based on the Hartaanselänranta art programme.
Photograph: Johanna Mattola.