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Artist Residency in Northern Finland: This open call to Scottish-based photographers or artists working with lens-based media is for a 30-day residency which will take place at Art Centre KulttuuriKauppila, Ii, Northern Finland and the surrounding areas in June 2025.

Photo North – Northern Photographic Centre in collaboration with KulttuuriKauppila Art Centre and Street Level Photoworks are inviting artists or an artist group to react to the urgent global climate situation and engage the sub-Arctic environment in a responsible way. We are looking for an applicant who will develop, question and offer new perspectives. The artist is expected to work in collaboration with the local community and to be interested in solastagia, ie. emotional or existential distress caused by environmental change. The residency is open to all forms of art but places an emphasis on community-based artistic practices that employ lens-based techniques. Work developed in the residency will be included in a large group show in Oulu Art Museum from October 2026 to January 2027.

The artist or a group will be paid a total of 11,000 EUR (incl. Finnish VAT if applicable) for a one-month period of residency followed by a period of developing and producing new artwork. The residency fee includes the artist fee, production costs of the artwork, and travel expenses to and from the residency location. The detailed breakdown of the sums (fee, production, travel) will be stated in the residency contract.  

Residency location

KulttuuriKauppila Art Centre, located in the municipality of Ii in Northern Finland (approx. 30 min drive from Oulu), offers three residency programmes that allow artists to explore and develop their artistic practice, collaborate with locals and get inspired by the surrounding environment. As part of the programme, an environmental curator will be at the disposal of the artist, to help research and access the local landscape.

During the residency, the artist will start to develop their new body of work for the Adaptation exhibition at Oulu Art Museum October 2026. The artwork must be finalized during the working period following the residency prior to the exhibition. In addition, the artist chosen for the residency will take part in an introductory workshop in spring 2025 aimed at all residency artists, critical thinkers and people involved with the project. The workshop costs will be covered by Photo North and are not part of the residency fee.

How to apply
In addition to the previous works described in bio and external links of the applicant or the group, the selection will be based on evaluation of the concept of the work, its artistic quality, the feasibility of the plan and its relation to the themes of the residencies of the Adaptation project. We welcome mind-blowing, novel ways of thinking and provocative perspectives. The jury may contact the applicants for further information prior to the selection. The implementation and the content of the works will be developed in collaboration with the project participants.

DEADLINE - 18th August 2024.

The residency is supported by Photo North – Northern Photographic Centre, Oulu Culture Foundation, Kone Foundation, KulttuuriKauppila Art Centre, and Street Level Photoworks.

Oulu is the European Capital of Culture for the year 2026. Adaptation is part of the Oulu2026 cultural programme and cultural climate change.

 

How to Apply:

GOOGLE FORMS: LINK HERE