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Flow´s and PPCM artists are inviting Oulu residents to free workshops, urban city walks, a pop-up event at Aaltosiilo and a performance at Valvesali!
At the end of May and beginning of June, the collaboration project Climbing over Oulu with the French Le Plus Petit Cirque du Monde will continue in connection with the European Capital of Culture year.
Climbing over Oulu is a three-year collaboration project involving international architects, musicians, circus and dance artists from Oulu. They’re inviting citizens to join them on urban walks, workshops, pop-up events and performances inspired by the people and urban landscapes of Oulu. Climbing over Oulu is all about the city, its people, its urban landscapes and its human heritage.
The urban walks across the city aim to create new connections between the public, the city’s inhabitants, architecture, urban planning and the performing arts. The workshops are open to the public and led by architect Amine Slimani from the team of famous French urban planner Patrick Bouchain. The main aim is to record participants’ ideas on how to transform the city into a new kind of space where people can work together and be creative.
At the same time, a group of fourteen artists from France and Finland are working in Oulu. During the residency, French and Finnish dancers, circus artists and musicians will prepare pop-up events and work in progress performance for the people of Oulu.
The first residency took place from 8 to 13 June 2024 and will end in the summer of 2026, when Oulu is the Capital of Culture.
Climbing over Oulu is part of the Oulu2026 cultural programme and cultural climate change. Oulu is the European Capital of Culture for the year 2026. Oulu and the entire northern Finland will be filled with culture, art, and events in the coming years. Northern Finland will rise to the world map in an unprecedented way as Finnish and international cultural experts create something new in cities, countryside, and nature. It is a journey spanning several years, culminating in the year 2026.
Summer 2025 Climbing over Oulu programme:
27th.-30th May Urban walks in different parts of Oulu (schedules to be finalised during spring)
Fri 30th May at 7:30pm Pop-up presentation at the Summer Sauna at Tuiran Beach
Sat 31st May at 6pm Pop-up presentation at Aaltosiilo
Fri 6.6. Jun at 7pm Work in Progress presentation at the Culture Centre Valve
Events are free of charge.
Working group:
Artistic Director: Eleftérios Kechagioglou
Artistic director: Gaëtan Levêque
Artistic development/production: Mathilde Lajarrige
Circus and dance artists: Lucille Chalopin, Julia Tesson, Erika Matagne, Johnson Saint-Félix, Helena Morag, Jared van Earle
Musicians Stefanos Floras, Mahdi M’Kinini, Mélian Vlachos, Pauliina Kauppila
Architects: Amine Slimani
In collaboration with: Valentino Tignanelli, Aaltosiilo, Factum Foundation, Culture Centre Valve
Production support: Oulu Culture Foundation, Institut français de Finlande
Co-production: PPCM, Flow Production
