Jakobstad has many unique buildings. These structures reflect the present day and the needs of previous generations through different building materials, architectural styles, and locations. Invited artists will work in the city centre of Jakobstad, considering the impact of buildings on our bodies, minds, memories, and dreams, and create new interest in the centre, with a special focus on children and young people.
The theme for the event is: “Life between Buildings”.
»Secret Rooms« is curated by Rita Leppiniemi, and produced by OUR AIR.
The main collaboration partner is Balatako and the City of Jakobstad / Pietarsaari
INVITED ARTISTS
In August 2026
OPENING, AUGUST 21st, at 4-6 pm at the Market Square, Jakobstad / Pietarsaari
JOHAN URBAN BERGQUIST Norway
Emanuel Swedenborg (1688–1772) was a Swedish mystic who is now set to be reborn in Jakobstad in the form of Johan Urban Bergquist’s new alter ego. He has chosen to call his performance ‘Emanuel Swedenborg recites “Battle of Jutas” (Döbeln vid Jutas), from The Tales of Ensign Stål (Fänrik Ståls sägner ), by Johan Ludvig Runeberg’. Swedenborg was in the habit of speaking with the dead, with angels and demons, and even with beings from other planets; in my performance, he will recite a writer who had not even been born at the time of Swedenborg’s own passing.
YNGVILD FÆRØY Norway
Yngvild Færøy is interested in the presence of birds in cities. Birds and humans lead parallel lives in cities, often without interacting with one another. From an evolutionary perspective, we are related, even though people’s lifestyles threaten birds. In her work for Jakobstad, she has recorded birdsong, manipulated it, and played it back. If you listen carefully, you might understand what the birds are saying.
SALLY KIDALL Australia
Two works form a related body of site-responsive research into Jakobstad’s dynamic landscape, exploring the effects of post-glacial rebound and the shifting relationship between land and sea. The performance, Tracing Stadssundet, maps the horizontal course of the historic waterway, while the sculptural installation, Lost Datum, registers the vertical movement of the ground itself. Through performance, mapping and sculptural intervention, the works amplify these largely invisible forces, bringing geological time into contact with the shifting surfaces and structures of the city.
JUHA VALKEAPÄÄ Finland
A song about money and the good life (En sång om pengar och det goda livet) is a street performance that asks simple questions, like “Can money buy a good life?” It is inspired by Jakobstad’s builders of luxurious boats, and an article that said that Jakobstad has a lot in common with so-called blue zones where people tend to live long.
In June 2026
BEATE BABERSKE Germany
We are surrounded by textiles 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, our entire lives. Even when we’re not wearing anything, we pull a blanket over our heads or stand on a carpet—textiles are deeply embedded in our language, even when we use these images only metaphorically. In this spirit, Beate Baberske is playing with a well-worn phrase and symbolically rolling out a red carpet in Jakobstad. Using red spray chalk, she will connect the two entrances of the parking garage, transforming an everyday urban space into a site of reflection. A simple act. A striking image. An invitation to reconsider the fabrics—literal and linguistic—that shape our world. ARTIST INTERVIEW
YASUSHI KOYAMA Finland
Jakobstad Lion
On the first day, we visited the Jakobstad Town Hall and saw Jakobstad’s coat of arms. Yasushi Koyama was particularly drawn to the unique blue lion, which inspired him to create a lion sculpture connecting his public art practice to the town’s identity. He focused on the symbolism of the lion—its blue colour, split tail, red crown, golden background—as well as historical figures like Jakob De la Gardie and his wife. Throughout the project, Jakobstad city supported him with a glass room workspace, allowing him to engage with residents. Their interest reinforced the central aim: to build community connection through the lion sculpture. ARTIST INTERVIEW
IRINA MALOIR Belgium
The core of Irina Maloir’s research explores the relation between waste and resources. Her exploration in Jakobstad started with mapping the terrain and sourcing raw and natural materials. All the materials have been collected within a perimeter up to 30 minutes by bike from the market square, including sheep wool, horse hair, and human hair. She combines her experience in feltmaking with historical and local crafts such as yarn spinning and rope making using unconventional materials. ARTIST INTERVIEW
MALIN SIMONS Finland
Contemporaneity, The Idealist, The Anarchist, The Poet, The Bon Vivant,The Crow
Through ceramic sculptures and installations, Malin Simons has, in previous exhibitions, created works with house-like forms that focus on the transparency between external and internal spaces. This time, she has chosen to create playful human sculptures that highlight individual people and the significance they hold in a city. Having grown up in Jakobstad and still living there, she carries memories of personalities who have been part of the street scene and have become part of the feelings and values associated with Jakobstad and her own background. People and animals are a major part of our experience and collective memory of a city and its spaces. Perhaps it is the dreamers, idealists, poets, and anarchists who shape Jakobstad just as much as those who plan the buildings and streets? ARTIST INTERVIEW
IVAN SMITH United Kingdom
Land – Sea – Sky
One of Ivan Smith’s works consists of three photographs. They show the land, the sea, and the sky surrounding Jakobstad, all taken from the same location. These images are free from any visible signs of human activity or development. They present an idealised view of nature that contrasts with the commercial environment. The photographs are displayed in the windows of an empty shop in Jakobstad’s town centre. Using reclaimed wood, Smith has constructed three rough boxes. Each box matches the dimensions of the lower section of each shop window. These structures act as capsules, enclosing and isolating the photographs. In doing so, they suggest both preservation and entombment. The viewer becomes an unwitting witness to nature’s confinement. ARTIST INTERVIEW
DOMINIK STANISLAWSKI Poland
Observatören / Havainnoija
What do poets mean to us today? What kind of winds are blowing for this art now? What value can still be found in those whom we classified long ago, and can now seemingly stop paying attention to? In the case of J. L. Runeberg, this becomes especially clear: he is often described as a founder of Finnish national identity, yet he is hardly read anymore. The work “Observatören / Havainnoija” focuses on the workings of memory, on the “inaudibility” of the classics, their certain transparency, and more broadly on the fact that we do not reach for poetry in our everyday lives—not only classical poetry. An additional aspect is the role of imagination. ARTIST INTERVIEW
Österbottens tidning June 11th 2026
City Rooms 2026, is supported by:
Amos Andersons Fond, Gesellius Stiftelse, Finnish Arts and Culture Agency,
Harry Schaumans Stiftelse, Norsk-Finsk Kulturfond, Stiftelsen Brita Maria Renlunds minne,
Svenska Kulturfonden, Svensk-Österbottniska Samfundet r.f., William Thurings stiftelse,
