Rana Begum's No.1574 Stone has transformed the main square in Oulu, Finland.
Five monumental stone sculptures rise from beneath the paving, referencing glaciers and the geometric forms of the sea ice. Precariously angled and highly polished surfaces capture the sky, surroundings and movement of people through the square. The edges are left raw or hammered to keep with the forms of fractured ice.
Developed with glaciologist at the University of Oulu, Professor Alun Hubbard, the colours and textures refract the northern light and recall the shimmer of Arctic ice - connecting urban life with both the urgent destructive melting and shifting rhythms of the natural world.
The permanent major installation is part of Climate Clock, Oulu2026’s European Capital of Culture programme curated by Alice Sharp and and programmed by Claudia Woolgar.
