Whale Farmer Event Week
Whale Farmer is a week-long multi-arts event held in Turku’s Old Great Square from 8 to 14 June 2026. The event is free of charge and open for all.
Whales are mechanical water mixers in the oceans, ensuring that water masses continue to mix. As the climate warms, the temperature of surface waters rises, and the waters no longer combine due to the temperature difference. This leads to a situation where the basis of the marine ecosystem’s food chain – phytoplankton production – collapses within a hundred years. No plankton –> no fish. Within a hundred years.
‘Whale farmer’ is a term for a person who, despite their environmental concerns, is an active protector and enforcer of the marine environment.
Whale Farmer is a science and art research project by Åbo Akademi University, Centre for Sustainable Ocean Science (SOS) and Fern Orchestra that compares evolutionary data obtained from microalgae and models the future based on it. The project presents the results of the 2025 MIMOSA study in an open week-long multi-arts event in Turku’s Old Great Square from 8 to 14 June 2026.
The Whale Farmer week provides research data and an opportunity to discuss the future of the oceans with scientists and artists. The Old Great Square will feature a three-dimensional textile sculpture called Keijusto, crocheted from algae yarn and spanning the public space, where anyone can come and crochet it.
The event will culminate in a community dance performance called Keijunta, which will take place around the textile sculpture. The performance is organized by professional artists from Fern Orchestra, a science and art collective that works with plants and microalgae in an environmentally conscious way.
Keijunta performances:
- Friday, 12 June, at 18:00 (premiere)
- Saturday, 13 June, at 15:00 and 18:00
More information about the Whale Farmer project is available on Fern Orchestra’s website.
