MEREN TIET – The Travelling Art Container: Crossroads of Water

As darkness falls, the iconic AaltoSiilo in Oulu becomes the setting for a spectacular media installation and live performance. The Scandinavian, German and Greenlandic art collective Tura Ya Moya presents MEREN TIET – The Travelling Art Container: Crossroads of Water, an immersive artistic exploration of the sea as a route of connection, memory and exchange.

Drawing on Nordic, Sámi and Greenlandic histories and traditions, the project asks: What do the journeys of the past mean for our lives today? How can we safeguard the ocean's vital ecosystems and food chains for future generations?

11–16 September
Daily from dusk until 22:30

A transformed 20-foot cargo container becomes a mobile gallery, projection laboratory and meeting place. Large-scale projections and sound installations animate the surface of the iconic Alvar Aalto building, creating a unique public space where art, history and community come together.

Live Performance: 12 September, 20:00–21:00

Musicians, poets and performers from across the Nordic region invite audiences on a journey through shared histories in a live performance inside the Siilo.

As part of the project, Tura Ya Moya has invited local artists to contribute artworks and music. In Meri-Toppila, children from a local day-care centre participated in workshops with the collective and will present their own drawings inspired by the sea and rivers.

MEREN TIET is an invitation to experience artistic storytelling in public space—from artist to citizen, from young to old, and from Nordic, Sámi and Greenlandic history to contemporary artistic expression.

Founded in 1989 and led by Karen Thastum, Tura Ya Moya has specialised in site-specific, partly analogue sound and light installations combined with live concerts and performances across Europe, the Nordic region and Kalaallit Nunaat (Greenland). Their distinctive travelling art container serves as a compact gallery, projection laboratory and gathering space, enabling large-scale image projections, concerts and performances in public spaces.

The indoor live event is co-produced by Nordlandsmuseet (Norway), Qeqertarsuaq Museum (Kalaallit Nunaat/Greenland) and Inland Productions (Sweden).

MEREN TIET is part of the official Oulu2026 programme.

Local producers: Valve Urban Culture and AaltoSiilo

Supported by: Oulu2026, Nordisk Kulturfond, Statens Kunstfond (Denmark), Nordisk Kulturkontakt, Kulturfonden Danmark–Finland, and other partners.

Free admission