Ranti Bam (UK/Nigeria), Rana Begum (UK/Bangladesh), Takahiro Iwasaki (Japan), Gabriel Kuri (Belgium/Mexico), Antti Laitinen (Finland), SUPERFLEX (Denmark) and Tellervo Kalleinen and Oliver Kochta-Kalleinen (Finland)
“The Climate Clock is ticking, the snow is melting, and we are learning anew what our forebears knew—that time is not ours to command; that nature keeps its own time.” —Alice Sharp, curator of Climate Clock
Part of Oulu2026's European Capital of Culture programme, Climate Clock is a permanent public art series that reflects on our relationship with nature and climate warming, and awakens us to the rhythms of the earth. Spanning natural and urban settings, leading artists are creating site-specific artworks in collaboration with scientists and local communities. Featuring sculptures, ceramics, natural materials, sound and kinetic forms, the project marks a major new international contemporary art landmark in Northern Finland.
Curated by Alice Sharp, founder of the UK-based organisation Invisible Dust, the series invites audiences to reconnect with the natural world at a time when Oulu—the third northernmost city in the world with over 200,000 inhabitants—is experiencing the effects of Arctic warming faster than the global average. Six permanent, site-specific artworks, each distinct in scale and medium, will be located across Oulu's regional landscapes. A seventh, community-created touring piece - The Most Valuable Clock in the World by Tellervo Kalleinen and Oliver Kochta-Kalleinen (Finland/Germany)—presents video moments donated by local residents and collaborations with scientists.
Spanning forests, rivers and seashores, each of the permanent works offers a unique encounter with Oulu's diverse landscapes, inviting reflection on how we can renew and sustain our bond with nature. Sharp has worked closely with each artist, pairing them with specialist scientific advisors—including a lichen biologist, snow hydrologist, archaeologists, a glaciologist and climate scientists from the Universities of Oulu, Uppsala, Lapland and Helsinki. These collaborations between art and science enrich every work, drawing on local stories, topology, prehistoric heritage and climate research to illuminate the fragility of our environment in a time of profound change.
Ranti Bam (Nigeria/UK) brings the ancient craft of sculpting clay into dialogue with the surrounding forest at the Kierikki Stone Age Village. Currently participating in the Venice Biennale, this will be her first permanent work. In Oulu's centre, Rana Begum's (Bangladesh/UK) stone sculptures reference glaciers and the geometric forms of sea ice. Takahiro Iwasaki's (Japan) three-metre-high traditional wooden barrel contains hundreds of delicate symmetrical snowflakes, their intricate architecture echoing the neoclassical forms of the local church.
Gabriel Kuri (Mexico/Belgium) transforms a familiar thoroughfare into a terrain of climate risk, with lampposts, benches and rocks painted in the exact green, orange and red hues of a risk assessment chart. Antti Laitinen (Finland) creates circular openings within the forest, formed by twisting branches to frame the surrounding landscape; two spheres suspended like pendulums become living instruments of time. SUPERFLEX (Denmark) presents a pink marble structure, Super Kello—named after the local fishing village—in which one word per hour is heard from the Finnish translation of Homer's The Odyssey, slowing time to the rhythm of the sea.
Programmed and managed by international producer Claudia Woolgar, Climate Clock is a production of the Oulu2026 European Capital of Culture; each work will enter the Oulu Art Museum collection after 2026. The project harnesses art to spark environmental awareness, inspire optimism, and enrich the region's cultural life for generations to come.
Climate Clock public opening: Saturday, June 13, 2026, Oulu, Finland.
