OCTOBER 27-29, 2026

OULU, FINLAND

DAYS

HOURS

MINUTES

SECONDS

As part of the CRAFT-IT4SD project contribution to the European Capital of Culture 2026 programme in Oulu, we have made significant progress in shaping the concept and scope of a craft-centered exhibition, in collaboration with OAMK University of Applied Sciences. This initiative is a strong communication opportunity to showcase the CRAFT-IT4SD project results and outputs, and it is also an occasion to celebrate innovation, tradition, and collaboration across creative and craft sectors.

The Oulu 2026 Exhibition is envisioned as a multilayered event that bridges the physical and digital realms, and brings together diverse voices, skills, and perspectives. It will include:

A physical exhibition at the STARTS Lab Oulu, highlighting selected works and prototypes developed through our pilots—emphasizing traditional craftsmanship reimagined through digital and cross-disciplinary processes.
A virtual exhibition, presented in a digital twin of the STARTS Lab, extending access and engagement beyond geographical boundaries and providing an immersive digital experience of the exhibited works.
Two live performances, merging craft, sound, dance, movement, and storytelling, showcasing the rich intersections between contemporary art, craft, and cultural heritage.
One thematic seminar, featuring keynote presentations and panel discussions, engaging artists, researchers, technologists, and policymakers in dialogue on the role of crafts in shaping sustainable, creative futures. The involvement of the Sami community will be central to this event, ensuring indigenous perspectives and voices are represented.

Key focus areas and creative direction

The script of the exhibition will be framed around several guiding principles:

Working across sectors and institutions: Promoting collaborative creation between academia, small enterprises, independent artists, and cultural institutions, in line with CRAFT-IT4SD aims and objectives.
Advocating cross-disciplinary learning and making: Highlighting processes that blend craftsmanship, technology, design, and artistic research.
Engaging small companies and local brands: Offering a platform for entrepreneurial creativity, local manufacturing, and sustainable production to be showcased alongside artistic explorations.
Fostering community and cultural participation: Actively involving local performing artists and craftspeople, creating space for co-creation and shared authorship.
Emphasizing diverse narratives: Through the integration of Sámi cultural practices and crafts, we aim to foster a culturally sensitive and dialogic exhibition environment.

FINAL EXHIBITION

what makes us different

our partners

CRAFT-IT4SD aims to transform the cultural and creative sectors and industries (CCSI) towards the green transition by activating the rich crafts and creative art heritage and the strong design traditions nested in the European fashion and clothing sector, and to renew these traditions through cross-sectoral co-creation with immersive media and extended reality technologies, to explore new sustainable design and production processes through digital technologies, tools and lab-environments as well as new ways of engaging more sustainable consumer behavior through gamification, immersive storytelling and co-designing processes in immersive media-environments.