Pain Exhibition 9.2.–25.8.2024

The exhibition from the collections of the Oulu Art Museum explores the vulnerability and fragility of life from the perspectives of insecurity, loneliness and marginalisation but also hope.

The themes of the exhibition are approached through a number of questions displayed in the galleries. Their purpose is to make us think of what we mean when we talk about security, invisibility and evil. What do loneliness, health or dignity mean on the level of the individual, the community or the society?

One of the museum’s tasks is to participate in the social debate by highlighting current phenomena. Works in the museum’s collections can be used to build shared narratives that allow us to look at difficult issues on a human level. Artists give shape to experiences that are recognisable and shared in the society around them and make them visible in their work. This way, the museum’s collections become part of the community’s memory and cultural history.

The exhibition has been organised in cooperation with the Northern Ostrobothnia Museum, whose collections of objects from the Health Care Museum and Oulunsuu Hospital form an interesting part of the exhibition.