ArtProgram
The selected artists in this year’s open call have been invited to decipher the shifting states of being, stillness and temperature of midsummer. Held in a landscape where light stretches without hesitation, this year the festival carries attention to the theme of ‘Transformation’.
Artists reflect on the movement of time: how it gathers, disperses, evaporates, or holds us in endless loops.
In a world where images pierce through us and thus become a performance - transformation invites us to an experience beyond our screens. It is within the motion and intention that we invite artistic responses. Works may engage with these ideas in ways that feel intimate, expansive and playful.
Oulu is the European Capital of Culture for the year 2026 and Solstice is happy to be a part of the Oulu2026 cultural programme and cultural climate change.
Aki Markkanen
Aki Markkanen (b. 1989) is an interdisciplinary artist working across architecture, photography and music. Inspired by nature, his practice explores ontological questions and phenomena elusive to definition, focusing on subtle anomalies in reality where hidden structures momentarily surface.
Suinner, Trabelsi, Holfeld
Holfeld, Suinner & Trabelsi form a multidisciplinary artistic team (b. 2026) that manages the framework of radical hospitality, building systems of care and shared resources. Their practice centres on places of gathering and storytelling, resisting the co-opting of marginalised communities while trying to create and hold practices, heritage, and precious cultural knowledge.
Onni Aho & Pei-Chi Lee
Onni Aho (b. 1989) and Pei-Chi Lee (b. 1991) are an artist–designer duo working across installation, spatial practice, material research, and public engagement.
Helmi Nieminen & Rusto Myllylahti
Rusto Myllylahti (b. 1983) is an artist working with sculpture, installation, music, performance and sound art. Their visual work often takes the form of installations incorporating various mediums, ghostly characters, and worn materials.
Helmi Nieminen (b. 1997) is a visual artist who works with a wide range of materials to imagine and build different worlds, often seeking comfort through her practice. Her work takes shape in colorful installations that invite viewers to step into her universe, inhabited by animals and imagined characters expressing emotions drawn from everyday life.