Application Guideline for Artists’ Residencies | The Finnish Cultural Foundation

In the August application round, artists can apply for grants for international work through two different forms of support: a period of work that includes a working grant at one of the residencies offered by the Cultural Fund, or a mobility grant for residencies organized by artists themselves or for other international work.

You may apply either for one of the Cultural Foundation's residencies or for a mobility grant in one application round, not for both.

Applications close at 4 pm Finnish time (EET) on the last day of the application period.

Page was last updated on August 10 2023.

Residency Grants

Residency grant recipients are awarded a working grant and a travel grant. If the grantee receives a smaller third-party grant for the duration of the residency period, the grantee will be awarded the difference between the two grants.

The grantees themselves are responsible for any visas, residence permits, or insurance possibly required for the period abroad.

It is possible to bring a spouse or family with you to those destinations where this is specifically mentioned in the description. Family members’ travel expenses must be covered by the artists themselves.

Long-term Residencies

Working Grant

The working grant for three-month residencies is 7,500 euros/person in total, and 12,500 euros/person for five-month residencies (Morpho).

Expenditure Grant

The residency grant includes accommodation organized by the residency.

The grant amount for air travel is standard:

Argentina, Japan, United States: 1,000 euros/person
Belgium, Iceland, Denmark: 500 euros/person

It is possible to apply for a supplementary travel grant if you travel without flying by public transport or by cargo ship (that is, not e.g. by car). The planned method of travel and an estimate of the travel costs must be included in the application form.

Estonia: the grant amount is a maximum of 300 euros/person, regardless of the mode of travel.

The method of travel must be confirmed when accepting the residency.

Short-term Residencies (Kanuti Gildi SAAL)

The length of the working period at the Kanuti Gildi SAAL residency is two or three weeks, and the grant amount is 650 euros/week/person. The maximum size of the working group is six people. A grant can be applied for a member of the working group who takes part in the residency for its entire duration. The exact date of the residency will be agreed upon with Kanuti Gildi SAAL after the selection process.

The residency does not include pre-arranged accommodation, but the grant recipient arranges their working group's accommodation in Tallinn on their own. An expenditure grant for accommodation and travel expenses can be applied for using the application form.

How to Apply

Applications should be submitted using the Finnish Cultural Foundation’s Online Application Service within the August application period. Applications close at 4 pm Finnish time (EET) on the last day of the application period.

The application form will guide you in filling out an application. The application and all its attachments must be submitted in English, as applications are also evaluated at the receiving residency.

You may apply to a maximum of four destinations with one application, excluding Kanuti Gildi SAAL, the applications of which cannot be combined with those for other destinations. The priority order of the residencies must be indicated in the application, and the work plan must specify how the work will change depending on the residency. If you apply as a working group, note that not all residencies accept working groups.

Appendices, statements and how to submit the application

Compulsory appendices to the application are:
• curriculum vitae (maximum three pages)
• a portfolio or photographs of artistic work.

Large image attachments (over 3MB) and videos cannot be included in the application. Instead, we recommend saving such items on, for example, your own home page and attaching the website address of the home page to the application. Applications or appendices submitted by other means than through the Online Application Service will not be considered when processing the applications.

The Finnish Cultural Foundation’s Online Reference Service is not usable in this application round. If you would like to attach a reference to your application, however, you may scan and include it as an appendix to your application.

After submitting the application, make sure that the status of the application in the service is “sent”. Having been submitted, the application can be withdrawn using the "application management" function. No other changes can be made to the submitted application.

Grant reporting and commitment

The Finnish Cultural Fund requires that the applicant undertakes to follow the guidelines given when applying, to inform the Cultural Fund of corresponding funding received from third parties during the processing of applications, and to act according to the submitted plan. The Cultural Fund also requires that the applicant undertakes to follow its Guidelines for Grantees if the grant is awarded.

The announced dates of residency are subject to change due to extenuating circumstances (such as travel restrictions imposed by countries). In such cases, the new dates will be agreed upon together with the selected artist and the residency destination. If it is not possible to reschedule the residency, the awarded working grant may be used for artistic work in the home country.

Feedback on the residency period is collected from all residency visitors and, in addition, the awarded grant must be reported in the Online Services for Grantees within one year of withdrawing the grant money. Failure to report the use of the grant will prevent the grant recipient from receiving future grants.

Grant Decisions

Residency grant decisions will be announced to the selected artists and on the Cultural Foundation’s website in the autumn, as the selections are confirmed by the receiving residencies. The grantee must confirm that they will accept the residency within two weeks of the announcement. All grant recipients will be announced by January 5 on the Cultural Foundation’s website.