Aboagora 2026: Mercury, the Winged Messenger
Aboagora is a meeting place for researchers and artists. It consists of an international three-day main event organized at the Sibelius Museum in Turku, a research retreat and open Avant Aboagora pre-events.
The theme for 2026 is Mercury, the Winged Messenger. It is a part of the thematic series, The Planets. The theme is based on the orchestral suite of the same name by the composer Gustav Holst (1874–1934). Each of the composition’s seven movements famously represents a planet in our solar system, bringing forth various ideas, myths and dreams connected to the celestial bodies and the astrological characters associated with them. The series will continue all the way to 2030.
The organizers of Aboagora are the University of Turku, Åbo Akademi, Turku Academy of Arts, Åbo Akademi Foundation and Turku University Foundation. Aboagora in 2026 is supported by the Kone Foundation, the Jenny and Antti Wihuri Foundation and Svenska Kulturfonden.
The tree-day main event is open to everyone, and parts of the programme are free of charge. Registration starts in May!
Wednesday, 23 September
13:30 – Registration & Signing in
14:00–15:30 Workshop session (in Finnish): Wings of Dialogue – Vuoropuhelun siivet. Turunlahden sanaversomo
15:30–16:00 Coffee
16:00–17:30 Opening Ceremony & AGORA: How to navigate an information war? Timo R. Stewart (Centre for European Studies, University of Helsinki
17:30–18:00 Opening toast
18:00–19:00 Concert: Old Forest Echoes. Barbora Xu & Mikko H. Haapoja
Thursday, 24 September
14:30–16:00 Performative Session: ELIANÈ. Dancers: Jonna Eiskonen, Maija Karhunen & Maija Nurmio. Music: Éliane Radigue, I’Île Re-sonante (2000). Text & video: Teemu Mäki. Lighting design: Olivia Pohjola
16:00–16:30 Coffee
16:30–17:30 AGORA: Death in Kaija Saariaho's last composition. Susanna Välimäki (University of Helsinki)
17:30-18:00 Coffee
18:00–19:15 Performative Session: Kolmas Tila | Tredje Rummet
Friday, 25 September
10:00-11:30 Parallel workshop sessions: Asemic Writing Workshop with Palimama, Päivi Maunu. The Billion Workshop, Leena Pylkkö
15:00–16:00 Performative Session: Celestial Navigators. Tytti Arola, Annika Fuhrman & Elena Kakaliagou (FRA)
16:00–16:30 Coffee
16:30–17:30 AGORA: Migration on swift wings. Susanne Åkesson (Lund University, SWE)
17:30–18:30 Closing Reception
18:30–19:30 Closing concert. To be announced soon!