What if we create cities that coexist with forests, blending nature with urban life? What if we realize that loving the forests is not just an option, but a necessity for our survival?

The Soiva Tuleva sound installation asks what the Finnish forest will sound like in 2085.

The exhibition takes visitors on a journey to the future, and the storytelling medium is sound art. "The future prototype is a combination of imagination and reality. In this prototype, research-based knowledge and nature recordings from the present meet imagined soundscapes from the future. Futures research helps us understand what might happen in the future, and future prototypes help us experiment and test these events in practice. We will assemble soundscapes with the exhibition visitors using different forest-related audio clips," says Auri Antinranta - the futurist and artist behind the installation.

The Soiva Tuleva exhibition presents different elements related to climate change in Finland, such as the forest, the built environment, extreme weather phenomena, the edible frogs, the boreal owl, and the pollinators. Each element plays in its speaker, and the audience can influence the room's soundscape. The exhibition also features a "Black Swan" microphone, through which the public can participate in the work by leaving their message to the universe.

The Soiva Tuleva's first exhibition at Yö Galleria, Helsinki was 28.8.-1.9.2024. The exhibition will now tour around Finland in 2024-2025. If you would like to discuss having the exhibition in your city, leave us a message through this website.

The concept, sound design, and curation: Auri Annina Antinranta, Technology specialist Marko Tanninen, audio consulting: Mats Karlsson, content consulting Virpi Vaittinen and researchers Juulia Räikkönen (BIODIFUL/UTU), Ilari Sääksjärvi (BIODIFUL/UTU), Tommi Luoma (BIODIFUL/LUKE), Matti Salo (BIODIFUL/LUKE).

The exhibition has also used material published by the Finnish Meteorological Institute and blog posts about the future of cities (e.g., Forum Virium Helsinki). The soundscapes of the exhibition have been recorded, e.g., In Heinola, one of the Cities in the network of National Urban Parks (NUP star cities). The prototype also uses recordings from various soundbanks. New Narratives oy produced the work.

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