Estonian art centre Maajaam brings technological art to the European Capital of Culture Oulu 2026 programme

This Thursday, June 11, the Art Ii Biennial opens in Northern Finland, featuring a curated selection from the programme of Wild Bits, an outdoor exhibition of technological art.

The Art Ii Biennial is a festival of environmental and site-specific art, held for the tenth time in the municipality of Ii, approximately 35 kilometres north of Oulu. This year, the biennial collaborates with Maajaam, an Estonian art farm and residency centre, and their technological art exhibition Wild Bits.

The head curator of the biennial is Heta Kaisto, with Wild Bits presenting a guest programme. The theme of the 2026 Art Ii Biennial is solastalgia – a distressing feeling, a blend of grief and nostalgia, experienced when a familiar environment changes significantly due to climate change or human activity. The anniversary biennial showcases 13 site-specific artworks that reflect on human-nature relationships, Northern identity, and a sense of belonging through a changing environment and landscape. This year’s biennial is part of the main programme of the European Capital of Culture Oulu 2026.

Mari-Liis Rebane, the driving force behind Maajaam, believes that this year's collaboration significantly expands the current understanding of environmental art: "Collaborating with the Art Ii Biennial creates an opportunity to bring together environmental art, technology, and research-based creative work. The artists of Wild Bits address the intertwining of nature and technology in a way that helps us notice environmental changes and understand the human role in a rapidly changing world. We are delighted that the European Capital of Culture Tartu 2024 brought us together with the Ii Biennial under Oulu 2026 – we can offer new perspectives to the local audience during the biennial's anniversary year and enrich the Ii environmental art park."

Three works from the Wild Bits programme will be on display at the Art Ii Biennial. The installation "Ups and Downs" by the German artist duo Heidundgriess, which the Estonian audience saw at Maajaam two years ago, depicts moving forms reminiscent of artificial birches. These rise and fall rhythmically, pointing to human intervention in the natural cycles of forests and questioning the future of forests shaped by human activity. In addition, Estonian artist Ivar Veermäe and the Danish-German artist duo August Honoré and Tobias Zimmer will present new works at the biennial. Their creations will be presented to both local and international audiences in the summer of 2027 at the Wild Bits triennial held at Maajaam.

The Art Ii Biennial exhibition takes place in the Ii environmental art park on the banks of the Ii River, at the Kulttuurikauppila Art Centre, and at the Ii Community Centre, and will remain open until July 31. The Wild Bits satellite exhibition at the Art Ii Biennial is supported by the Cultural Endowment of Estonia and the Estonian Ministry of Culture.