This is how the invitation to a piece leading its experiencer to a swamp at Sanginjoki, Oulu starts. SWAMP – Walking Within the Frame is the culmination of Kristina Junttila’s and Maria Oiva’s eight-year-long artistic collaboration exploring the themes of climate, body and digitality. The performance happening in August, is a part of Valve’s Urban Neighbourhood Culture program that starts from Cultural Centre Valve, where the audience hops on a bus for a shared journey towards Sanginjoki.
The Paradox of Nature and Technology
The performance takes place at Sanginjoki Nature Reserve while it’s being in the middle of a concrete change, where the peatland is undergoing a restoration to its natural state – one shovelful at a time. The piece flips a conventional thought upside down: can a smart phone, usually seen as an alienating factor, actually enrich and deepen our presence in nature?
“We are looking to explore whether a smart phone could strengthen our relationship with nature. However, it involves an obvious paradox: technology manufacturing is a part of the industry that destroys nature irreversibly. We’d like to dive into this complex issue through our performance,” Oiva and Junttila ponder.
Sanginjoki was also chosen as the performance location due to its interesting history. Back in the day, for a moment it was resided by the Iriadamant community, seeking for an alternative way of living. This is a reminder on how humans have always tried to find a place and a way to live in the middle of nature.
A Journey Into an Embrace of the Swamp
The piece and its dramaturgy will start during the bus journey from Cultural Centre Valve to Sanginjoki.
“The bus ride is an important rite of passage, that prepares the senses for what’s to come,” Oiva and Junttila tell.
A big part of the performance at Sanginjoki will be experienced independently, guided by the Zoneatlas App. This allows space for personal observations and independent actions. The phones with the application installed, will be handed out to the audience at the event location.
In SWAMP – Walking Within the Frame piece the workgroup and the artists create a world where each step seems to take you deeper into an embrace of the swamp. In addition to technology, Oulu-based Paavo Impiö’s sound design utilizes the environment’s own sounds. Performance artist Seija-Leena Salo is responsible for the literary dimension of the piece.
“In this performance, the presence of nature is enhanced by technology at the wonderful Sanginjoki Nature Reserve. I’m looking forward to see the what the final experience will get shaped into, and I hope that many people will get excited to join in on this extraordinary journey,” the executive producer of Valve’s Urban Neighbourhood Culture, Iida Salonen says.
SWAMP – Walking Within the Frame
The 21st–30th of August 2026
Sanginjoki, Point of departure: Cultural Centre Valve
Tickets: 20 / 12 € Valve Ticket Office and Ticketmaster.fi (+service fees)
In Cooperation with: The Reality Research Center (TTK) , Ferske Scener, Cultural Cooperative ILME, Oulu2026, The Finnish-Norwegian Cultural Institute, Valve’s Urban Neighbourhood Culture, Norwegian Arts Council, BarentsKult, Metsähallitus (Parks and Wildlife Finland), Loppulan ystävät ry & Luontotalo, Zoneatlas.
Tickets
20 / 12 € Valve Ticket Office and Ticketmaster.fi (+service fees)