Artists and scientists join forces for Finland climate crisis project

The trail, which will open up in June 2026, is curated by Alice Sharp, the owner and artistic director of the UK-based global ecological art organisation Unnoticeable Dirt. Sharp has 15 years of experience dealing with researchers and artists.

She says of the project: “The climate clock is ticking, the snow is melting, and we are learning over again what our forefathers recognized– that time is not ours to command; that nature maintains its own time. It has actually been so exciting to see just how the musicians have actually welcomed scientific ecological reasoning in the context of Oulu2026, from [discovering] the historical remains of Stone Age spiritual techniques to gauging the irrepressible melting of glaciers.”

Climate Clock will certainly make up a new irreversible public art trail running through the city of Oulu, Europe’s Resources of Society in 2026. The path will feature seven site-specific outdoor installments– each one developed by an artist-scientist duo– that commemorate the area’s natural appeal. As one of the world’s northern most cities, located on the edge of the Polar circle, Oulu is experiencing the results of environment change much more quickly than the worldwide standard.

The London-based musician Rana Begum’s contribution will be the result of a collaboration with the glaciologist Alun Hubbard from the College of Oulu. Making use of his study highlighting the alarming rate at which Polar circle glaciers are melting, Begum is creating an interactive collection of sculptures inspired by Oulu’s subarctic light and the elaborate shapes of its sea ice– to be presented in the city’s central square.

Begum, that was born in Bangladesh, an additional nation that is extremely prone to climate modification, told The Art Newspaper: “During my study sees to Oulu, I have been struck by the phenomenal beauty of the low Arctic light, together with the terrific strolls along the seafront, where I have observed the several shapes of the melting and icy sea ice. Satisfying glaciologist Alun with Alice, I knew how the whole Arctic ice globe is in activity, with massive glaciers melting and crashing into the sea because of environment change.”

The other musicians adding work to the job, are the British-Nigerian ceramic artist Ranti Bam, the Brussels-based visual musician Gabriel Kuri, the Japanese carver Takahiro Iwasaki, the Finnish multimedia musician Antti Laitinen and the Danish art team Superflex.