The Oulu Art Museum’s 2026 exhibition programme will celebrate collaboration

To mark the Oulu2026 European Capital of Culture year, the museum's programme will include a major exhibition of Sámi art, international high fashion, encounters between art and science, and experiences of falling out of time. Around 100 artists and cultural organisations are collaborating with the Oulu Art Museum on the anniversary year's exhibitions.

Eanangiella – Voice of the Land. Ann-Sofie Kallok, Guoddi, 2025. Dancer: Ann Katri Helander. Photograph: Albinas Liutkus.

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Eanangiella – Voice of the Land, 16.1.–3.5.2026

The sustainability and beauty of Sámi culture take centre stage in a major exhibition that takes over the Oulu Art Museum. The exhibition will feature the work of more than 50 artists and duojáris from Sápmi, showcasing contemporary multimedia art, art-historical pieces, duodji (Sámi handicrafts), and soundscapes. Eanangiella – Voice of the Land exhibition is curated by Inga-Wiktoria Påve, Fredrik Prost ja Áilu Valle.

Exhibition website.

 

YUIMA NAKAZATO, 22.5.–11.10.2026

YUIMA NAKAZATO, GLACIER, March 2025, photographed in Hailuoto. Photograph: Yuima Nakazato.

For the first time in Finland, the Oulu Art Museum presents a solo exhibition by esteemed Japanese couture fashion designer and photographer, Yuima Nakazato. The exhibition showcases Nakazato’s artistic work and thinking through three collections. While preparing for this exhibition, Nakazato travelled to the island of Hailuoto and Inari in northern Lapland. There he garnered inspiration for his latest collection which was presented at Paris Haute Couture Fashion Week in the summer of 2025. The exhibition is directed by Yuima Nakazato in collaboration with curator Pasi Räbinä.

Exhibition website.

 

Tomorrow’s Wardrobe, 22.5.–11.10.2026

Ryunosuke Okazaki, Tokyo Fall 2024 collection. Photographer: Ben Toms.

This international exhibition explores and paves the way for the future of fashion. Showcasing the creative work of fashion designers in a multidimensional way, it challenges and redefines the boundaries of fashion. The exhibition explores the topics of avant-garde fashion, the body and identity, biomaterials, and virtual fashion design. The exhibition is curated by costume designer, artist professor Pasi Räbinä.

Exhibition website.

 

Adaptation, 16.10.2026–14.2.2027

Erich Berger, Spectral Landscape, Kovela.

Who or what should adapt: humans or nature? Who dictates the terms? In the exhibition produced by Photo North – Northern Photographic Centre, adaptation means active agency that challenges the familiar narratives that tell people to survive and accept their fate. The artists of the exhibition are Matti Aikio, Erich Berger, Michele Boulogne, Elina Bry, Jaakko Myyri, Arttu Nieminen ja Maija Tammi. The exhibition is curated by Antti Tenetz, Taija Jyrkäs and Darja Zaitsev.

Exhibition website.

 

Out of Time, 30.10.2026–28.3.2027

Metallinen haarniska, joka on taipunut erikoiseen asentoon. Vierellä miekka, jonka kärki osoittaa ylöspäin.

Fanny Varjo, Knight, 2024, glazed stoneware & ceramics, 132 x 98 x 110 cm. Image courtesy of the artists.

An exhibition about a time when reality is an accumulation of parallel and overlapping events; a time when the order that defines our reality seems to be in transition. Out of Time brings together contemporary artists whose themes span from the Middle Ages to the present day. The featured artists are Teija ja Pekka Isorättyä, Jesse Jones (Ireland), Ida Koitila, Daniel Nagy ja Fanny Varjo. Exhibition is curated by Oulu Art Museum’s curator Selina Väliheikki.

Exhibition website.