Uploaded September 2026 | Updated September 2026, 4 days ago
Jakob Kudsk Steensen’s new installation ‘The Kuutar Garden’ unfolds as a spatial environment rooted in more than four years of ecological fieldwork in Northern Finland, with the Botanical Garden of the University of Oulu and the region’s distinctive northern light serving as key influences.
Commissioned by Oulu2026, the European Capital of Culture, this immersive, site-specific installation reimagines Kivisydän, Oulu’s central underground car park deep beneath the city center, as a virtual world of botanical afterlife. Running from September 18th to November 30th, 2026, the work transforms two halls into a spectral garden, with musical elements of the simulation created in collaboration with Danny L Harle and Lugh O’Neill.
In this video, Steensen discusses the virtual world and physical installation of ‘The Kuutar Garden,’ as well as the sources of inspiration behind the work, ranging from Karelian-Finnish and Baltic-Finnish folklore to the plant collections and seed vaults of Oulu’s Botanical Garden.
Video by MONA productions. Produced by Monica Salazar. Filmed & Edited by Peter Cairns. Commissioned by Oulu2026, the European Capital of Culture.
Jakob Kudsk Steensen’s new installation ‘The Kuutar Garden’ unfolds as a spatial environment rooted in more than four years of ecological fieldwork in Northern Finland, with the Botanical Garden of the University of Oulu and the region’s distinctive northern light serving as key influences.
Commissioned by Oulu2026, the European Capital of Culture, this immersive, site-specific installation reimagines Kivisydän, Oulu’s central underground car park deep beneath the city center, as a virtual world of botanical afterlife. Running from September 18th to November 30th, 2026, the work transforms two halls into a spectral garden, with musical elements of the simulation created in collaboration with Danny L Harle and Lugh O’Neill.
In this video, Steensen discusses the virtual world and physical installation of ‘The Kuutar Garden,’ as well as the sources of inspiration behind the work, ranging from Karelian-Finnish and Baltic-Finnish folklore to the plant collections and seed vaults of Oulu’s Botanical Garden.
Video by MONA productions. Produced by Monica Salazar. Filmed & Edited by Peter Cairns. Commissioned by Oulu2026, the European Capital of Culture.
