Finland Oulu and UK Manchester

Beyond Survival:
International Time Travel

In collaboration with  SICK! Productions, Oulu2026, the ILME Cultural Cooperative, and the Finnish Institute in the UK and Ireland

Read more about SICK!

We welcome you on a travel where the past, the present and possible futures communicate.

In 2026 Oulu and Manchester come together in an international cooperation project through art, history and images of the future.

YEAR 2026

International Time Travel brings Finnish and UK artists

together to create community based artworks that speak to locals and visitors alike. The artworks offer participation to us who have experienced a past and look into a future, no matter what we see in there.

HLBTQ+ choir

Auntieverse

River
What does it mean to build a home as a queer person?
What if our society was built by aunties?
Please, come to think with a river.

Down to earth

Sculptor Nina Rantala and ecologist Sari Stark invite you to explore your earth-born nature and imagine other forms of being. What would it feel like if a branch grew from your hand or rock pushed out from your side?

Down to earth

International Time Travel explores the histories of Oulu and Manchester. The project explores the connections between them—industry, migration, and survival—and how these stories continue to shape us.

The project is a collaboration between the SICK! Productions (UK), the ILME Cultural Cooperative, and Oulu2026 European Capital of Culture. It was developed in close collaboration with the Finnish Institute in the UK and Ireland.

The four creative processes of the collaborative project will be carried out with local people in both Oulu and Manchester (UK) between March and July.

Works open to the public

SICK! Festival (Manchester): May 2026
Part of the Oulu2026 European Capital of Culture program: Summer 2026