AVARA Event and Testbeds (Oulu2026)

The AVARA testbed project is structured around three main actions:

1. A workshop in Oulu for creating new art and tech pilots;
2. Hosting annual workshops for interdisciplinary groups focusing on learning new competencies associated with arts innovation; and
3. Hosting large international art and technology conferences in 2025 and 2026, along with supporting an annual artist residency for art and technology experiments.

This project has strong connections with the AVARA festival project.

Part 1. A physical workspace and testbed will be established in Oulu, allowing artists to work alongside researchers on experimental pilot projects.

Part 2. Annual workshops for interdisciplinary artist and technology groups from around Finland (3 x 1.5-day workshops per year). These workshops will take place in Oulu and connect with “minimum viable performance” pilot projects created using the testbed infrastructure. The goal is for this action to lead to local artists learning new art-related skills and connecting with Business Oulu’s planned creative industries pre-incubator programs starting in 2023.

Part 3. A large international conference will be hosted in Oulu in 2025 and 2026. These conferences will bring together Finnish art and technology practitioners and researcher communities. The aim is also for the conferences to become annual events for existing European and international networks such as the European Theatre Convention, International Symposium on Electronic Arts, and Ars Electronica (Deep Space).

The annual residency will focus on developing a specific technological experimental pilot project each year, to be showcased at the AVARA festival and the conferences in 2025 and 2026.

The main funder is the Oulu Cultural Foundation (Oulu2026). Additional funding is expected from the S+T+Arts program’s anticipated project funds and the TAIKE/ESR innovation grant program.

The project is managed and hosted by the Centre for Arts Innovation (CAI) at Oulu University of Applied Sciences in collaboration with the City of Oulu and infrastructure support from the Finnish National Opera and Ballet.