The Cultural Foundation’s residency programme has expanded by three host sites from 2024 onwards, with the addition of Kanuti Gildi SAAL in Tallinn, MORPHO in Antwerp and SÍM in Reykjavík. The programme’s ten host sites are located across eight countries.

“The Finnish Cultural Foundation’s residency programme is seen as significant in the Nordic region as a whole, and we want to continue building upon it. Finnish art has always relied upon international mobility, and these days it is more important than ever to give artists opportunities to travel and network internationally,” says the Cultural Foundation’s CEO, Susanna Pettersson. 

Since the pandemic, application volumes for artists’ residencies have been growing: while the foundation received 127 applications in 2021 and 176 in 2022, the number nearly doubled this year, reaching a record of 324 applications. 

Fifteen artists to take up residencies in 2024 

The residency programme allows artists from diverse fields to absorb new international influences, build networks and acquire new perspectives for their work. This year, Residency Grants will be awarded to 15 artists.

“A residency allows artists to develop in their work, network internationally, and temporarily distance themselves from their everyday lives. Many artists describe the impact of a residency as groundbreaking for their careers. In our new partnerships, we have paid particular attention to the support artists receive in their work,” explains senior adviser Johanna Ruohonen, who is in charge of the residency programme.

Miia Kettunen and Pavel Rotts will travel to the NART residency in Narva, Estonia, in 2024. Kettunen is a multidisciplinary visual artist, who focuses on environmental and community art. In her current works, she is exploring the use of components from environmental art, bioart, alternative photography techniques and media arts. 

Pavel Rotts uses diverse techniques within the ambits of conceptual art, performance and sculpture. An Ingrian Finn born in the Soviet Union, Rotts often uses his background as a starting point. When Russia began its military attack on Ukraine, he became an antiwar activist and was involved in setting up the NO PUTIN NO charity campaign, which supported Ukrainian refugees. 

Tiina Pyykkinen is a Helsinki-based visual artist, whose mirror-surfaced paintings often deal with themes of memory, time and bodily perceptions. She is off to the Triangle residency in New York to work on a new series of paintings.  

Artist Panos Balomenos (pictured above), who combines watercolour painting and performance in his work, will also be going to New York. Balomenos explores themes related to power relations, sexuality and politics through personal narration, historical events and fiction. 

Recipients of Residency Grants in 2023: 

• Panos Balomenos, MA: Triangle, New York
• Karolina Ginman, dancer, with team: Kanuti Gildi SAAL, Tallinn 
• Miia Kettunen, MA: NART, Narva
• Aaro Murphy, visual artist, Tokyo Arts and Space, Tokyo
• Elina Oikari, MA: Fabrikken, Copenhagen 
• Jarkko Partanen, choreographer, with team: Kanuti Gilda SAAL, Tallinn 
• Tiina Pyykkinen, MA: Triangle, New York
• Hannu Pöppönen, cultural editor: Filba, Buenos Aires 
• Arto Rintala, MPhil: Filba, Buenos Aires 
• Pavel Rotts, MFA: NART, Narva
• Maiju Suomi, Architect and Patrik Söderlund, artist, AIT, Tokyo
• Meri Toivanen, MA: MORPHO, Antwerp 
• Juha Vehmaanperä, MA: SÍM, Reykjavík
• Bogna Luiza Wisniewska, MFA: SÍM, Reykjavík 
• Man Yau, sculptor: Fabrikken, Copenhagen