Our Forest – Janakkala’s early childhood education joint exhibition opens on Oct 7.

What kind of forest is created when children make art?
In honour of Janakkala’s 160th anniversary year, Janakkala’s early childhood education has organised a joint children’s exhibition in the lobby of Janakkala’s main library. The exhibition opens on 7.10.2026 at 9:00 and is on display in the main library’s exhibition gallery throughout October during the library’s opening hours.
In this large collaborative project, every early childhood education children’s group and child has left their own mark to be seen in the exhibition.

Visitors are invited into a forest where imagination gets to decide! The exhibition includes trees, nests, forest inhabitants and secret forest worlds – perhaps even something completely unexpected. The works have explored, experimented, built, painted, modelled and combined a variety of materials and techniques. The exhibition is accompanied by an audio piece recorded by preschoolers.

Opening for daycares and children’s groups

The exhibition’s official openings will be held twice on Wednesday 7.10. The openings are open events, but the morning event at 9:00–10:30 is aimed especially at early childhood education children’s groups. A narrative and musical programme runs from 9:00–9:30, led by art educator / cultural producer Satu Ristola, a guided tour of the exhibition from 9:30–10:00, and Ulla Koskunen will play atmospheric piano music from 10:00–10:30.

Opening for families and the general public

From 17:30–19:00 there is an opening open to everyone. Pianist-virtuoso Stefanie Tuurna will play atmospheric music from 17:00–17:30. The opening programme includes the stunning Mekkoni on kanvas performance from 18:00–19:00. In the performance, dancer Anniina Ukkonen and pianist Stefanie Tuurna improvise together in white dresses, and the audience becomes part of the performance by drawing and writing forest-themed messages onto the performers’ dresses with markers. In this way each participant creates part of the story, and the performance becomes an interactive, living whole.

The article’s main image shows children recording an audio piece. Photo: Hanna Nordström