Future Futures: Reaching Out has unfolded as a slow choreography of encounters—a learning journey in which each meeting, workshop, and conversation accompanies the PUBLICS Youth Teen Advisory Board in co-producing a shared publication with the Teen Advisory Boards of Praksis and Index.  The project has been a space of collective thinking and creative exploration, where publishing is not just about producing printed matter but about building connections, imagining alternatives, and exploring new solidarities.

The first workshop of the program was held on May 17th, when Publics Youth was first  in conversation with Paul O’Neill, who invited the group to think of publicness as relationality, and publishing as both making  something public and being made public. Paul  shared his insights  on how to work collectively and collaboratively.

Later, Sezgin Boynik hosted PYAB at his studio, where he introduced Rab-Rab Press—an independent publishing platform that produces Rab-Rab: Journal of Political and Formal Inquiries in Art. The press is known for “combining experimental art and leftist politics with scholarly rigor and a punk attitude”.

During the session, Sezgin shared his understanding of publishing as a space of resistance, highlighting the importance and potential of dissident publishing to challenge dominant narratives and open up new critical perspectives. He also emphasized the transformative power of independent publishing as a means of creating counter-narratives and holding space for voices and ideas that might otherwise remain unheard.

On the same day, the group also met with Jan Konsin at Kalsataman Seripaja, where he introduced the screen-printing facilities and what it means to build artist-led printmaking infrastructure for the community.

Jan spoke about the collective spirit behind Kalasataman Seripaja, emphasizing how accessible printmaking spaces can empower artists to experiment, collaborate, and take control of their own modes of production. He also reflected on the social and educational role of such initiatives, how they foster a sense of community, encourage skill-sharing, and strengthen the connection between artistic practice and local cultural life.

These meetings  invited Publics Youth to engage with publishing as a shared space for collaboration, connection, and resistance, deepening their understanding of its transformative power and emancipatory potential  to contribute to social and political  change. 

On May 24th, alongside the Index Teen Advisory Board and the Praksis Teen Advisory Board, Publics Youth  redirected their focus to the meaning and possibilities of publishing, guided by Gerrie van Noord, the editor of this collaborative publication designed by Tuukka Kaila and published by Rooftop Press. Gerrie led the boards through an exploration of why we publish and for whom, what publishing means, can do, and enable. Drawing from her experience, she highlighted the strong connection between editorial and curatorial work, as well as the often unseen labor that goes into the editorial process, among many other things. Gerrie also guided the youth boards through the conceptual and ethical dimensions of editing.

In the afternoon, MULTIPÖLY,  the experimental publishing collective founded by graphic designer Arja Karhumaa and artist Maarit Bau Mustonen led a workshop that brought some of the ideas discussed at the earlier session  into practice. Together, Publics Youth  produced a small publication, ?, filled with the questions that connect us. This encounter expanded the board’s understanding of publishing as a collaborative process — thinking through making, and making through questioning.

Arja and Maarit also introduced the Eurantie Window Publication, an experimental urban space publication that presents  new texts from artists, activists, and researchers on the window of the Multipöly room. Eurantie Window Publication demonstrates how public display can function as a mode of dissemination and also the project, in a sense, also invites passersby to become readers, while merging art, language, and the rhythm of daily  life.

Earlier in  June, PYAB  visited Tekstin talo (The House of Text), where Heidi Backström introduced the Tekstin talo, and the Text Laboratory Residency and its role in cultivating a vibrant text culture. The residency provides a space for writers, artists, and researchers to experiment with language, form, and meaning, treating text not only as a medium of communication but as a site of artistic inquiry and collaboration. The discussion also touched on what it means to build a shared culture around text, and how residents engage with writing in diverse ways: through performance, research, visual art, and collective reflection. This encounter highlighted Tekstin talo’s commitment to supporting cross-disciplinary dialogue and expanding the possibilities of how text can live and act within contemporary art practice.

After the summer break, while PUBLICS was under renovation, m-cult hosted Publics Youth for a time of regrouping. Around a shared table, board members returned to their mind maps — both individual and collective — tracing directions, overlaps, and needs. This moment of reflection allowed them to catch up and reorient themselves. Through mapping, the board was guided in deciding on the themes they wanted to focus on for the commissions for the book. It became a tool for reflection and collective decision-making, shaping the path forward.

The culmination of these experiences came in the Future Futures: Reaching Out Teen Advisory Boards Network Conference, held from 9–11 October 2025 in Helsinki. Hosted by the Publics Youth Advisory Board, the conference brought together the Youth Advisory Boards from PUBLICS, Praksis, and Index for three days of collective thinking, writing, and un/learning across borders. This conference marked a critical moment in the journey of co-producing the collaborative publication, and each day was dedicated to deepening the boards’ engagement with publishing as a collective and transformative practice.

Each morning of the conference began with breakfast at PUBLICS, followed by internal workshops and visits with artists and practitioners whose work broadened how the boards think about publishing, printed matter, collective ways of working, and alternative futures.

Day 1 included “Group Writing as Form of Exhibiting,” a workshop facilitated by Paul O’Neill, where writing was explored as a collective and performative exercise, a visit to Trans Library Helsinki where lona Roisin spoke about queer archives, printed matter, and writing as a tool, and a visit to Library of Labour Movements, with Minna Henriksson introducing Counter Libraries (co-curated with Sezgin Boynik), an exhibition discussing the role of exile printing activities in the antifascist struggle.

Day 2 opened with Oraklets ark, a role-play script written by Sara Kaaman and tiny, and a reading by Michaela Yarmol-Matusiak and tiny, inviting participants to step into speculative worlds and explore the possibilities of collective storytelling. Saara Hacklin welcomed us at Museum of Contemporary Art Kiasma, sharing reflections on youth agency and intergenerational engagement within the institution, the Boards had the opportunity to visit the current exhibitions. Later, the group visited Kalasataman Seripaja where Jan Konsin presented a selection of  prints and spoke about printmaking and artist-run infrastructures and the Longest Night exhibition at Paja gallery.

Day 3 began with reflections on care with Marit Silsand. This was followed by a Dada-inspired collage workshop where the Boards reworked materials gathered throughout the week. Later, Tuukka Kaila, the publication designer for the upcoming collaborative book edited by Gerrie van Noord and published by Rooftop Press, introduced the idea of book concept and shared examples that opened a discussion on audience, intention and positioning for the publication.

The conference became a space for meeting and making, bringing boards together in person for the first time after working across borders, and connecting them with local practitioners from Helsinki engaged in publishing, printmaking, writing, and printed matter in diverse ways. Over three days, participants moved alongside the production of the publication, learning from one another and collaborating in the process.

Beyond the work of the publication, the conference found its rhythm in small, lived moments: evenings filled with laughter over dinner, mornings alive with anticipation for the workshops, long waits for a break that took its time, and the gentle chaos of navigating the city to the next meeting—moments brimming with togetherness and joy.

The project is still evolving, with the publication scheduled for release in 2026. This work represents a collective effort by the Publics, Praksis, and Index Youth Advisory Boards to rethink the possibilities of publishing. It explores the relevance of printed matter in today’s world, how art institutions engage with publishing, and how this publication can reach out not only art institutions but also wider publics  in ways that institutions typically don’t. It aims to challenge mainstream boundaries and explore new methods of connection, among other things.