• Mercury
• Retreats

ABOAGORA Workshop series

Are you working out how to talk about your research or your art in today’s media landscape? The ABOAGORA Workshop series invites MA arts students, doctoral researchers, and newly graduated doctors in the arts, humanities, and sciences to spend three days this autumn in Turku/Åbo — in talks, workshops, and casual get-togethers — reflecting on the challenges, possibilities, and responsibilities of communicating science and art today. The series closes with an invitation to ABOAGORA: Mercury, the Winged Messenger, 23–25 September. 

Programme

28.8.2026 at 17-18: Avant Aboagora: Winged Messaging in a Foreign Language

Bonfire Hall, Astra, Porthaninkatu 3 

Journalist and writer Maxim Fedorov will explore how creative expression in a foreign language can open new ways of communicating across cultures and emotional experiences. This talk is open to the public. Before it starts, drop by Solsidan — the restaurant right next to the hall — for relaxed afterwork drinks with the ABOAGORA team and your fellow applicants, and a good chance to ask us anything about the workshop series or ABOAGORA more broadly. Selections won’t have been made yet at this point, so it’s also a chance to meet everyone in the running, not just those chosen for the workshop.

18.9.2026  at 11–16: Creating Meaningful Connections: The Importance of Trust in a Changing World

Bonfire Hall, Astra, Porthaninkatu 5 & BlackBox ARC 269, Arcanuminkuja 1

In an age where fake news, rumors, and AI-generated content are flooding our feeds, we face new challenges. How do we know what is true? Who can we trust? And how is our society affected when disinformation, polarization, and artificial intelligence shape our perception of reality?

Emma Frans is a researcher and author. She has been named Public Educator of the Year twice and writes for Svenska Dagbladet. She is the author of several popular science books and conducts research in epidemiology at Karolinska Institutet. 

In her talk and workshop, Emma will talk about how to build trust, preserve curiosity, develop cognitive capacity, and continue to learn throughout life. She will give you the keys to cultivating the human abilities that give you resilience in an increasingly automated world. Emma will first give an open talk at the Bonfire-hall, after which she will lead a short workshop session with the participants. 

22.9.2026, 14–17: Art and Science Communication in a Changing World

Hilma, Astra, Porthaninkatu 3

This Avant Aboagora afternoon  will bring together journalist Henry Tikkanen (YLE, Tiedetrippi-podcast), bioarchaeologist and docent Ulla Nordfors (University of Turku), and journalist Vaula Helin (Uusi Juttu) to discuss topical themes in contemporary science and arts journalism, as well as their own work. 

23–25 September — ABOAGORA: Mercury, the Winged Messenger

Workshop participants are invited to the main ABOAGORA event at the Sibelius Museum, bringing together the humanities, natural sciences, and the arts to explore this year’s theme, Mercury, both literally and metaphorically. See the full program here.

Contact

Questions? Email aboagora@utu.fi.

ABOAGORA is a meeting place for researchers and artists, an enabler of cooperation and a space for new creation. The project’s annual activities include an international three-day main event organized at the Sibelius Museum in Turku, a research retreat and open Avant Aboagora pre-events. The project launched in Turku’s capital of culture year 2011 is now a pioneer in the field of science and art cooperation. The event is based on the ethos that comprehensive problem solving requires not only interdisciplinary approach but also combining scientific and artistic perspectives. The organizers of ABOAGORA are the University of Turku, Åbo Akademi, Turku Academy of Arts, Åbo Akademi University Foundation and Turku University Foundation. ABOAGORA in 2026 is supported by the Kone Foundation, the Jenny and Antti Wihuri Foundation, Svenska Kulturfonden and William Thurings stiftelse.