Exhibitions

Pelekääkkö nää polliisia?

Date

09.05.2026–

30.08.2026

Are you scared of the police? In Oulu, this question is often posed rhetorically, as a humorous way to showcase the local dialect. Yet policing—and resistance or compliance towards it—has long been enshrined in the city’s public and cultural spaces. This exhibition is housed in a former site of incarceration, which has been replaced by an exhibition space. In 1987, money raised by the public funded the creation of the Toripoliisi statue. In 1990, young people gathered, breaking windows in the centre of town in response to police presence. This evening has been framed as Finland’s only “non-political riot”.

What behaviours are permitted in public space, and how is the task of “upholding the peace” used to justify the maintenance of the status quo? Whose peace is actually being upheld? And how are peace and policing bewildered by discourses of liberation? In what ways can a working group of non-European artists apprehend Oulu within its European Capital for Culture year?

These are some of the questions we hope to collectively articulate via this exhibition and its public program. We present a suite of collectively-made expanded photography artworks that delve into the power dynamics of distant and recent local histories and stories, using archival sources, testimonies, speculation, and humour. The exhibition is curated by Katie Lenanton and Farbod Fakharzadeh in dialogue with artists Phan Nguyen, Vinayak and Yujie Zhou.

The exhibition team is interested in experiences of the 1990 Oulu youth riot, “kristalliyö”, experiences. Read more about the collecting of pictures and experiences of the night, from our event page.

Phan Nguyen, Vinayakin & Yujie Zhou – curators Katie Lenanton & Farbod Fakharzadeh
Pelekääkkö nää polliisia?
9.5.-30.8.2026
Photo North – Nordic Photographic Centre, gallery
11.5.–14.6.2026
Ränni Gallery (Rautatienkatu 11, 90100 Oulu)

Additional Information

Katie Lenanton (she/her) is an intersectional feminist curator, artistic researcher, writer, and editor who works collectively through mediums like exhibition-making, social practice, wildcrafting, conceptual cocktails, publishing, scent, and sustenance, amongst others. An important question in her work is “who is in the room, and under what conditions?” In 2019, she co-founded Feminist Culture House, a Helsinki-based curatorial and editorial platform that produces exhibitions, publications, and tools for more equitable collaborations within the art field. She has an MA in Curating, Mediating, and Managing Art from Aalto University.

Farbod Fakharzadeh (he/him) is an artworker and curator based in Finland who holds a master’s degree in visual culture, curating and contemporary art from Aalto University. During the past 15 years, he has co-founded and participated in several platforms, projects and exhibitions in Finland and internationally. He is interested in art’s potential in shaping what is yet to come and his work deals with notions of work, curatorial hospitality, regenerative agency, collective dreaming and political imaginaries. Farbod currently works as the director at Arte ry- Titanik gallery in Turku Finland. Previously he has worked as co-artistic director for Catalysti ry, a lecturer and curriculum advisor at Node Center for curatorial studies and a co-curator for Rehearsing Hospitalities by Frame Contemporary Art Finland among others roles.

Phan Nguyen (they/them)is a Helsinki-based visual artist, performing artist, producer and community facilitator. Nguyen’s artistic work moves between lens-based art, installation and performative gestures. Their works examine various practices related to home and domesticity from queer and diasporic perspectives, exploring memories, dreams, fantasies and a sense of belonging through a socio-political lens. Nguyen’s works have been exhibited at, among others, the Finnish Museum of Photography, the Political Photography Festival, Outo Olo Gallery, Titanik, Myymälä2, etc. E.g. https://www.pvf.fi/Phan-Nguyen-Eng

Vinayak’s (he/him) research-based artistic work is strongly based on material findings, collectivity, the politics of archives and the construction of knowledge. He is mainly interested in exploring the luminous medium, its possibilities, delusions and promises, which the artist deconstructs and explores mainly through the creation of a photographic art book and exhibitions. Vinayak is currently completing his Master’s degree in Photography at Aalto University.

Yujie Zhou (they/them) is a Helsinki-based visual artist who works with expanded photography, textile works, moving images, installations and publications. Through performativity and the decoded concept of language, they seeks to question dominant historical narratives and power structures in their practice, while simultaneously renewing collective individuality. They graduated with a Master of Arts from Aalto University’s Photography Program in 2023. Their works have been exhibited at, among others, the Museum of Finnish Photography, the Photographic Center in Peri and the Photographic Gallery Hippolyte. https://yujiezhou.xyz/