Memory Map of the World in Northern Finland: Oulu & Rovaniemi

At the end of August, I travelled to Oulu in Northern Finland, where I was invited by TaikaBox for an artist residency and takeover of itu artlab from 20–30 August.

The residency brought my ongoing participatory textile artwork Memory Map of the World to Northern Finland through an exhibition, artist talk and a series of co-creation sessions. It coincided with the TRACKS+PRACTICES Symposium and Oulu's year as European Capital of Culture 2026.

Big thanks to Culture Moves Europe for supporting this artistic mobility! This is a project funded by the European Union and implemented by the Goethe-Institut.

Memory Map of the World

Memory Map of the World is an evolving participatory textile artwork connecting communities, places and people through embroidery.

The project began during my 2025 Tiny Spaces, Deep Connections travelling art residency, when I travelled overland from Estonia to Athens, Greece, and back by trains and buses, organising co-creation sessions with local communities along the way.

The first completed chapter, Memory Map of Eastern Europe, brings together 140 embroidered patches created collectively by 100 people across 18 countries. The project has since expanded into Memory Map of the World, continuing to grow through new journeys, encounters and collaborations.

TRACKS+PRACTICES Symposium

On 21–22 August, I participated in the TRACKS+PRACTICES Symposium in Oulu, where I had the opportunity to take part in a panel discussion, sharing my experience of the travelling residency and contribute to conversations around slow travel, artistic mobility, alternative residency models and creative practice in public and transitional spaces.

These themes felt particularly relevant to Memory Map of the World. The original project had itself developed through being in transit — on trains and buses, at stations and temporary stopping points, and through encounters with people along the road.

During the symposium, I facilitated a new Memory Map of the World co-creation session, inviting participants to add their own embroidered memories to the evolving artwork.

The symposium also marked the opening of Collective Routes, where the completed Memory Map of Eastern Europe was exhibited publicly for the first time.

Taking over itu artlab

Following the symposium, the project continued with a week-long takeover of itu artlab, TaikaBox's artist-run space in central Oulu. The takeover brought together the exhibition, an artist talk and a series of open co-creation sessions. Visitors were invited to pick up a needle and thread, and contribute a memory, place or story to the next chapter of the map.

Some participants came specifically for the sessions, while others encountered the project through the gallery. The thread connected not only the embroidery, but also the people around the table as conversations unfolded.

This has become an increasingly important aspect of Memory Map of the World. The embroidered pieces form the physical artwork, but the encounters and conversations that happen while making them are equally integral to the project.

It felt especially meaningful to continue the work in Oulu during its year as European Capital of Culture 2026, connecting memories gathered across Europe with new voices from Northern Finland.

Further north to Rovaniemi

The residency also opened an unexpected opportunity to extend the project beyond Oulu.

I travelled further north to Rovaniemi, where I facilitated an additional Memory Map of the World co-creation session with students at the University of Lapland.

The students contributed their own embroidered memories to the evolving artwork, bringing another place and new perspectives into the project. This spontaneous extension felt particularly fitting for a project built around travel and encounters: the map can continue to grow wherever opportunities for collective making emerge.

One place, one story and one stitch at a time

The time in Northern Finland marked an important moment for Memory Map of the World: the first chapter of the project was presented as a completed artwork while new contributions were simultaneously being created for the next one.

Oulu and Rovaniemi brought new participants, memories and connections into the project and demonstrated once again how embroidery can provide a simple shared language through which people can meet, slow down and create together.

The map keeps growing—one place, one story and one stitch at a time. 🌍🧵

A heartfelt thank you to everyone who participated, embroidered, shared a story and to TaikaBox / itu artlab, TRACKS+PRACTICES, Tiny Spaces, Deep Connections and the University of Lapland for making this chapter possible.

The residency and artistic mobility in Finland were supported by Culture Moves Europe, a project funded by the European Union and implemented by the Goethe-Institut.

Oulu is one of those places where the city seems to dissolve into nature — the perfect place to slow down, explore and enjoy the long Nordic summer days.

While long Nordic evenings were still filled with Summer light, nippy weather offered a couple of occasions to wear laser-cut Fern gloves, crafted from speckled, digitally printed cabretta leather.

This work was produced with the financial assistance of the European Union. The views expressed herein can in no way be taken to reflect the official opinion of the European Union.