Arctic Design Week, at that time Rovaniemi Design Week, was born in 2009 as a cooperation platform between the city of Rovaniemi and the University of Lapland for business and students. Nowadays, the week includes various design and influencer forums, the city festival, and the design trade and meeting place Ääri Design Market. This year the main theme is Better future with Arctic Smartness: how we can shape a better future by utilizing arctic intelligence.

The University of Lapland, and especially the Faculty of Art and Design, produces a wide variety of events for the design week. This year, for example, there will be versatile exhibitions, open lectures, workshops, as well as a student pop-up shop. The events are open to everyone who is interested. Some of the programme is available in English, too.

Opening ceremony at the university and Arktikum square

The opening of the week will be celebrated in two parts on Monday, March 20, starting at 6:00 pm at the university and starting at 8:00 pm at Arktikum Square. At the university, the programme includes the opening of exhibitions in the seven galleries of the Faculty of Art and Design, official speeches and a masked dance performance. The opening ceremony will continue at 8:00 pm at Arktikum and Pilke square with a public opening event, with celebrations, refreshments, memories from past 15 years and a concert by musician Osmo Ikonen.

Lectures and workshops

Professor Jenny Bergström (HMKW University of Applied Sciences) will give an open lecture on her research and work related to design thinking and materials on Tuesday, March 21, from 3:00 to 4:00 pm. The lecture is in English, and it is also possible to participate remotely.

Tuesday and Wednesday 21–22 March, there is an opportunity to participate in a design workshop on the future of smart homes organized by the User Experience Research Group. The workshop will be led by Heiko Müller and Mikolaj Wozniak from Universität Oldenburg, Germany. There are limited places, so remember to register in advance: you can find more information in the event information.

Students have also the opportunity to participate in all Arctic Design Week forums and seminars free of charge (student card must be shown). There are several inclusive expert seminars and thematic workshops for entrepreneurs, designers and cultural workers as well as students. See all the forums and seminars (mainly in Finnish but some also in English).

Media science 30+: video and film screening

On Thursday, 23 March, it's the Media science 30+ jubileum event. Over the course of three decades, hundreds of Bachelors and Masters of Arts have graduated from the Audiovisual Media Culture programme of the University of Lapland, also a dozen of Doctors of Art.

As part of the festivities, there will be a two-hour video and film screening Camera – Go! at BioRex starting at 3:00 pm. The programme presents the best video and film productions from students and staff in recent years. The screening includes e.g. music videos and documentary, fiction, dance and animation films. The language of the event is Finnish but visual language could be still understood.

Showroom of Industrial Design and exhibitions of various fields

The expertise of the art and design students, graduates and staff can be seen during Arctic Design Week in several exhibitions at the university and the city.

A textile work combining experimental dyeing and weaving. Milja Rummukainen and Emma Dumasdelage, 2022. Photo: Ritva Jääskeläinen.

The fashion and textile art exhibition showcases the skills of the students of the programme in Fashion, Textile Art and Material Research. The exhibition brings together experimental dyeing and weaving from a minor in textile art, research concepts from the sustainable design course, wool blankets designed in corporate collaboration for K&H Annala Ltd, and costume art realized as an independent production. The exhibition will open on March 20 at 12:00 (noon) and will be on display in the lower lobby of Lappia Hall (Rovaniemi Theathre, address: Jorma Eton tie 8a) until 13 April from Monday to Saturday from 12:00 (noon) to 6:00 pm.

The Read (Research, Art and Design) 2023 design exhibition brings together the expertise of design students and graduates of the Faculty of Art and Design in the themes of a better future. Various design and research processes as well as long-lasting and innovative design will be on display. The exhibition will open in the university's Hämärä and Seinä galleries on Monday, 20 March at 6:00 pm and it will be open until 5 April.

The industrial design showroom offers a unique opportunity to get to know the versatility of the industrial design and see examples of student work. The exhibition features, among other things, product concepts implemented in courses, from glass design to industrial serial products. There will be staff and students talking about studying design, business cooperation opportunities and project and research activities, you are warmly welcome to come to discuss with them! The exhibition also presents the rapid prototyping technologies which are utilized in modern product development. The showroom will be open from Wednesday to Sunday 22–26 March from 10:00 am to 5:00 pm at Sampokeskus (address: Maakuntakatu 29–31 A).

As one part of the showroom there will also be the Arctic Smart Future Technologies exhibition, where four educational institutions from Lapland present business pilots realized as a collaboration between educational institutions. The companies that participated in the pilots represent different sectors in Lapland.

There will be also Freezing Glass – Images of Arctic Glass Design exhibition as a part of the showroom from Friday to Sunday 24–26 March. The exhibition features products of arctic glass design, which take a stand on current themes of the Northern regions. Delicate glass products boldly break traditional images of Arctic glass and envision the future. The exhibition highlights Lapland glass design and valuable glassblowing skills. The glass products have been blown in the Nuutajärvi glass village in cooperation with Ammattiopisto Tavastia's glass industry education.

Prizes and competitions

The Arctic Design Week also awards design prizes every year, one of which is Arctic Design Student of the Year. The award is given to a design student at the University of Lapland whose expertise has produced new and special insights into the field of design and whose attitude and actions move design forward in the region. Five university students have been nominated for the prize which will be awarded on Thursday 23 March at the Arctic Design Awards Night event in the Korundi House of Culture.

At the same event, Canadian BRP Inc. will announce the results of its fifth design competition. Juuso Kiviniemi, a student of industrial design at the University of Lapland, is among the 10 finalists of the competition aimed at students of industrial design in Arctic regions.

Student products for sale and a fashion show

The art and design products of the students of the Faculty of Art and Design will be on sale as part of the ÄÄRI Design Market event at Rovaniemi City Hall (address: Hallituskatu 7) on Saturday and Sunday 25–26 March, 10 am–5 pm. Admission to the event is free.

The Arctic Design Week ends on Sunday, 26 March with the fashion and music event Attention! Fashion & Music Event for Peace. The Arctic Fashion Show also includes collections by students of the Faculty of Art and Design. The event starts at Lordi Square (address: Maakuntakatu 29–31) at 6:00 pm, and admission is free.