Finnish and Norwegian organsations are looking for professional artists or artist groups from Finland or Finnish Lapland to develop an outdoor and site-specific project in co-creation with the local community in Vadsø, the county capital of Finnmark.
The Open Call focuses on the fact that the northern regions of Norway and Finland are under pressure, because people are moving to urban areas due to ever-increasing urbanisation and politics. Research examining how to stem this trend and encourage people to relocate to these areas and contribute to their growth has pointed to sectors such as aquaculture, tourism, and wind power as part of the solution.
The site-specific projects will be produced in Vadsø during the Varanger festival in August 2023. The chosen artist(s) will also be invited to a two-week residency at Vadsø guest studio from 16 to 30 January 2023. Vadsø is a small town on the Varanger peninsula, situated by the Varanger fjord. Although the fjord is incredibly rich in biodiversity and home to a variety of fish and mammals, it has been threatened by overfishing. Nature and the several rare species that call the Varanger peninsula home are now in a perilous situation.
Chosen artists will not only develop an outdoor and site-specific project, but also promote the positive development of the local society and communities as well as add value to the Varanger festival through the addition of an on-site art project. The cost of travel and accommodation in Vadsø for two weeks in January and one week in August 2023 will be covered. The grant for the project will be between NOK 20,000 and NOK 40,000.
The Call is also open to those who may not originally come from these areas, but who identify as northerners by virtue of either living in or having a connection with the north. Applications should be submitted until the dealine of 30 September. Check out the Open Call here.
The Vadsø Art Association, Vadsø guest studio (Troms and Finnmark County Authority), Artists’ Association of Lapland, The Varanger festival, Finnish-Norwegian Cultural Institute are the organisers of the Open Call.
