In the darkest month of the year, the Finnish city of Oulu is getting ready to light up. From 13 to 22 November, Lumo Art & Tech makes its debut: a new international festival devoted to the meeting point of art and technology, spread across 16 cultural venues and outdoor locations. Part of the Oulu2026 European Capital of Culture programme and supported by the City of Oulu, the festival grows out of the established Lumo Light Festival and aims to draw international visitors, creative professionals and local residents alike.

Oulu is a fitting host. The city has deep ties to innovation: for decades Nokia was its largest employer, earning it a reputation as a historic "home of radio". Today it is a start-up hub, and since 2023 it has been part of the UNESCO Creative Cities Network as a City of Media Arts. Unsurprisingly, Nokia is the festival's main partner, alongside Genelec, LähiTapiola, Avidly, Oulun Pysäköinti and Oulu University of Applied Sciences (Oamk).

Björk: a tribute to her mother in sound and image

The most anticipated name is Björk. At the Pekuri Shopping Centre, from 13 November to 31 December, the Icelandic artist presents three audiovisual installations. Ancestress and Sorrowful Soil, composed and arranged in honour of her mother, were first shown last summer at the National Gallery of Iceland in Reykjavík. Sorrowful Soil uses 30 loudspeakers by Finnish audio company Genelec, whose immersive listening room also hosts the third work, Björk Orkestral. The exhibition reflects the artist's long-standing practice at the crossroads of art, nature and technology.

On 15 November, Björk will also take to the decks at Tarkastamo, the new waterfront cultural venue, with a DJ set spanning genres, cultures and continents. Tickets go on sale on 1 October.

The same ticket for Björk's exhibition, on sale from 19 October, also gives access to Fotografiska Tallinn's Play in the same premises: more than 200 prints and video works by 16 artists, from the 1950s to the present day. Highlights include Martin Parr's The Last Resort, Cristina de Middel's The Afronauts, Christopher Herwig's Soviet Bus Stops and Jouko Lehtola's Nuoret sankarit, alongside works by Susan Meiselas, Bruce Davidson and Roger Ballen, among others. Both exhibitions are open daily.

Art in dialogue with climate and the universe

A common thread running through the festival is the use of technology and scientific research to explore the relationship between people and the natural world. At the Valve Cultural Centre, Josefina Nelimarkka's Arctic Clouds combines mist, glass, water and ice with real-time climate data from Oulu and Arctic research stations (until 24 January 2027). In the Cathedral, Andrew Melchior's The Logos turns more than 4,000 cosmic signals into spatial audio, bringing astrophysics and sound into conversation. At the University's Botanical Garden, Jakob Kudsk Steensen's The Kuutar Garden runs until 30 November.

The festival also brings together three more: the Lumo Light Festival (19–22 November); the FLASH5 Light Art Biennial (7–22 November), whose fifth edition extends into the AaltoSiilo designed by Alvar and Aino Aalto; and the new TAR Festival (11–15 November), devoted to experimental sound and curated by Antye Greie-Ripatti and Sasu Ripatti, two leading figures in Finnish electronic music. The programme also takes audiences to Tiima, the city's new Museum and Science Centre, home to Aurora Revelare until 2028.

Tarkastamo will host audiovisual performances by international artists including Riccardo Giovinetto from Turin, London-based Halina Rice and Montreal duo Ida Toninato and Pierre-Luc Lecours, as well as Finnish collective BUCOLIC – Cultural Machines, which brings human performers together with robotic folk instruments.

Talks and exchange for professionals

From 17 to 20 November, Lumo Talks will bring talks, panels and workshops to Tarkastamo on the future of work, sustainability and innovation, with keynotes by Takashi Kudo of the art collective teamLab and Gabrielle Jenks of Factory International. From 18 to 20 November, AVARA, run by Oulu University of Applied Sciences, will dedicate its Art & Tech programme to the theme of "Space" in its physical, virtual, social and cosmic dimensions.

"It is fantastic to see such a rich and diverse art and technology programme come to life in Oulu in the midst of the northern autumn darkness," said Henri Turunen, Programme Manager at Oulu2026, who hopes the festival will leave the city a lasting legacy of new collaborations and ideas.

Most of the programme is free to attend; some events and exhibitions require a ticket.

Other info here.