Finnish Cultural Foundation’s residency programme to expand to London and Lagos, Nigeria
The Finnish Cultural Foundation has one of the largest residency programmes in Europe, offering ever greater opportunities for artists to participate in residencies across the globe. Its new destinations include the G.A.S. residence in Lagos, Nigeria, and ACME in London.
The Finnish Cultural Foundation’s residency programme was launched in its current form in 2017 and has since become one of the largest in Europe, both in terms of the number of residencies and their geographical locations. Many residency programmes aimed at Finnish artists take them to the United States or Europe. The Finnish Cultural Foundation’s programme has taken artists to Asia, South America and Australia, and from 2026 also to Africa.
The locations currently include major international centres for art such as New York, Tokyo and Copenhagen, and a new destination, London. The foundation also has strong northern ties that take artists to places such as Iceland and the Lofoten Islands of Norway. Africa and the Global South are some of the programme’s future focus areas.
In the last few years, the programme has had around ten international residency locations, and 2026 will see the addition of its first location in Africa: the Guest Artists Space (G.A.S.) residency in Lagos and Ijebu Ode, established by artist Yinka Shonibare in 2019. The Acme residency in London with its rich traditions will also be included in the programme in 2026. The call for applications for these locations will open in August 2025.
The G.A.S. residency focuses on materiality, identity, cultural heritage, food security and the ecological crisis. In addition to visual artists, curators as well as artists and writers from other disciplines whose work has geographical or thematic links to the residency are eligible to apply. The other new location, Acme in East London, offers excellent networking opportunities for visual artists as well as individual support, for example, through mentoring.
“I couldn’t be happier with the high quality of the new partners we have attracted to the programme. London’s importance as a centre for the arts is indisputable, and Lagos is an enthralling and vibrant city for the visual arts. However, location alone is not enough. Residencies must also be able to provide artists with networking opportunities and support, which G.A.S. and Acme both do,” says Development Director Johanna Ruohonen, who runs the Finnish Cultural Foundation’s residency programme.
In the photo, the Acme residency Fire Station building ©Acme archives
Of last year’s locations, Filba in Buenos Aires is not included in the August round of applications. Some of the locations will continue to change each year, allowing the continuous development of the programme.
Supporting mobility in the arts
The Finnish Cultural Foundation’s residency programme combines top-quality locations with sufficient funding for artistic work during the residency. Longer residencies lasting between 2 to 5 months promote the development of artists’ work, contribute to lasting networks and increase appreciation for cultural diversity. The effects achieved will gradually radiate more widely into Finnish art. The next call for applications for the residency programme will be open in August 2025. A webinar with information about the application process will be held on 19 August 2025. More detailed instructions will be provided on the residency programme’s website in August.
Another type of grant open for applications in August is the mobility grant, which is intended to cover the costs of artists’ and art critics’ international collaboration projects, residencies, exhibition projects or festival participation. Mobility grants are awarded for stays of at least two weeks in the target country.
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Residency alumni
Read an article about Panos Balomenos’ experiences at experiences at a residency offered by Triangle in New York.
