The Cultural Foundation’s residency programme has been operating in its current form since 2017. For the year 2024, residency positions will be offered in nine destinations around the world. One of these is specifically intended for writers and one for performing arts working groups, and the remaining seven destinations are open to artists in visual arts and various other fields, some also for collaborative work. HIAP – Helsinki International Artist Programme works as a partner in the planning of the programme.

Three New Residency Destinations in Europe

For the first time, the residency programme includes a five-month residency at Morpho located in Antwerp, Belgium. At Morpho, both Belgian and international artists receive long-term curatorial and practical support for the development of their artistic work or project.

"The residency at Morpho is an outstanding opportunity for Finnish artists, because its location on the border of two diverse cultural areas, Belgium and the Netherlands, creates connections to both. There is a huge number of diverse contemporary art organizations in the region, which also operate internationally," describes Laura Boxberg, director of the Finnish Institute Benelux.

Another new destination with emphasis on visual arts, the Sím residency in Reykjavik, Iceland, invests in curatorial support. It is an artist residency run by the Association of Icelandic Visual Artists (SÍM), which annually receives over 200 artists from around the world. The mentoring program created especially for the Cultural Foundation’s grant recipients offers each resident artist individual support from a local curator/mentor.

In addition to these, a new destination for performing arts working groups is opening for application in Tallinn, in cooperation with Kanuti Gildi SAAL. Founded mainly by freelance artists and located in the heart of Tallinn's old town, Kanuti Gildi SAAL is a contemporary art centre that organizes festivals and residencies. You can apply for the residency with a working group of 2-6 people for a residency period of 2-3 weeks.

"It's wonderful that the residency program is working again in its full scope after these exceptional years, and we can offer artists new, fascinating residency destinations. About 75 residencies have already been organized through the programme, the impact of which can be seen in many ways in the work of the artists", delights Special Advisor Johanna Ruohonen.

"The purpose is to continue developing the programme, and, in order to enable the opening of new destinations, we have to let go of some destinations as well. This year ended the collaboration with the Korean SeMA Nanji, one of the first residencies to be offered in the programme," tells Ruohonen.

Residencies Open for Application for 2024

In the August 2023 application round, the following residencies are open for 2024:

• AIT, Tokyo, Japan, visual arts / other fields
• Fabrikken, Copenhagen, Danmark, visual arts / other fields
• Filba, Buenos Aires, Argentina, literature
• Kanuti Gildi SAAL, Tallinn, Estonia, performing arts / other fields
• Morpho, Antwerpen, Belgium, visual arts / other fields
• NART, Narva, Viro, visual arts / other fields
• SÍM, Reykjavik, Iceland, visual arts / other fields
• TOKAS, Tokyo, Japan, visual arts / other fields
• Triangle, New York, United States, visual arts / other fields

The amount of the working grant for three-month residencies is 7,500 euros/person in total and for five-month residencies (Morpho) 12,500 euros/person. In short-term residencies (Kanuti Gildi SAAL), the amount of the grant is 650 euros/week/person.

The amount of the travel grant depends on the chosen mode of travel. For air travel, the grant is 500 euros for destinations in Europe and 1,000 euros for other destinations. In order to encourage a more climate-friendly way of travelling, destinations accessible by rail and ferry services are given a supplementary travel grant provided the trip is made without flying but through use of public transport. In the case of a residency in Estonia, the travel grant is a maximum of 300 euros, regardless of the mode of travel.

The Finnish Cultural Foundation’s August application period is 10–31 August 2023. The application round closes at 4 pm (EET) on the last application day. See detailed application guidelines here.