Art channels the underwater world in the Sea Too project
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The John Nurminen Foundation’s Sea Too project works to halt nature loss in the Baltic Sea. The project brings art to the forefront, in addition to restoration measures, aiming to strengthen people’s connection to the sea. Three artists, Jaakko Autio, Jana Winderen, and Esa Pietilä, convey the underwater world to people through their respective art forms, via sound, music, and incorporating local people’s voices.
Changing the unsustainable way of using marine resources requires a change in the way people relate to and view the sea. Conservation and restoration are imperative, but stopping the loss of nature requires a shift in how people act and value the sea.
The goal in the Sea Too project is to open possibilities for people around the Baltic Sea to get to know the underwater world in ways they might not have experienced before. This can help people better understand the life below water, including its diversity as well as how human action affects nature in good and bad.
Three artists, three artistic approaches to the sea
The Sea Too project of John Nurminen Foundation, stretching to 2029, collaborates with three artists from Finland and Norway to transmit aspect of the sea and its biodiversity closer to people. Jaakko Autio, Jana Winderen, and Esa Pietilä work closely with the sea to create pieces and installations, mainly with sounds, to bring the sea closer to people.
“What the artists share is having a distinctive voice, authenticity, and boldness. They can help us get closer to a connection with the sea – especially through listening – as each of them approaches the bond between humans and the sea via sound and listening”, describes Elina Tuomarila, cultural producer at John Nurminen Foundation.
Jaakko Autio: shared listening
Jaakko Autio is a Finnish sound and media artist who creates spatial and experiential listening architectures. His immersive installations place emphasis on shared listening, collective presence, and breath. His works are built around multichannel environments with spatialised speaker installations and tactile low-frequency sound.
Autio explores how experience arises from interaction between humans and the environment. In his INTER series, he examines how environmental rhythms, such as wind, water, and ice, become perceptually tangible within the human experience. His work has been exhibited widely in Finland and internationally.
In summer 2026, Autio’s sound artwork INTER – Jurmo can be experienced on the island of Jurmo as part of the Sea Too project.
Jana Winderen: access to environments beyond reach
Jana Winderen is an artist based in Norway, focusing on audio environments and their creatures. Her educational background is in fine art, fish ecology, mathematics and chemistry.
Her artwork opens access to our shared environment with other creatures and life beyond reach, be it frequency ranges inaudible for humans or spaces deep under water. The work aims to spark curiosity, questions, and openness towards the unfamiliar through attentiveness and listening.
She brings the hidden, both near and remote, environments close to the listener through performing site-specific multichannel audio installations and concerts. Her work has been exhibited in venues around the world, such as Natural History Museum in London, MoMa in New York, and Thailand Art Biennale in Krabi.
Esa Pietilä: melodies that reflect the changes in the Baltic Sea
Esa Pietilä is a saxophonist and composer whose melodies test the boundaries of music and adventure through shifting soundscapes. He has worked especially with contemporary music and jazz, imaginatively mixing genres and combining composed pieces with improvisation.
Pietilä has composed numerous works for orchestras, chamber ensembles, and soloists. The Yrjö Award-winning jazz musician has also played in many esteemed jazz ensembles and top orchestras.
In the Sea Too project, Pietilä is composing a three-part piece of chamber music in which the expression and mood reflect the changes in the Baltic Sea and its biodiversity.
The John Nurminen Foundation’s Sea Too project restores habitats important for the biodiversity of the Baltic Sea, such as seagrass meadows, bladderwrack beds, and stone reefs. At the same time, the project strengthens the relationship between humans and the sea through science and art.
The project is co-funded by Baltic Sea Conservation Foundation.
