Sini Rinne-Kanto selected for the Researcher in Residence Programme in Åsgårdstrand, Norway

The Finnish, Paris-based curator, researcher and PhD candidate Sini Rinne-Kanto has been selected for the Researcher in Residence Programme (RiR). The two-week residency will take place in August in Åsgårdstand and is a new collaboration between Haugar Art Museum and the Finnish-Norwegian Cultural Institute.

Sini Rinne-Kanto’s research interests encompass interiors and domesticity, collective identities and feminist practices, sociocultural narratives, and histories of modernism. She is a co-founder of The Community, a multidisciplinary art institution near Paris. Her recent curatorial projects include the group exhibitions Houses of Tove Jansson (Paris, 2023) and AllTogether (Paris and Venice, 2022). Rinne-Kanto is the guest curator of the 2024 Fiskars Village Art & Design Biennale’s Surprise Guest exhibition.

During her residency, Rinne-Kanto will work on her project From Lykkehuset to Getsemane, which she is carrying out in collaboration with the New York-based curator and writer Sabrina Tamar. From Lykkehuset to Getsemane explores the connections between two Nordic painters, Hugo Kalervo Palsa (1947-1987) and Edvard Munch (1863-1944). Palsa, born in post-war Finnish Lapland, often mentioned Edvard Munch as one of his major artistic influences.

The project seeks to establish as-yet-unexplored connections between the painterly motifs as seen in Palsa and Munch’s respective bodies of work. In parallel, the project brings the two artists into a broader 21st-century contemporary (art) context, providing a re-reading of their work in an era marked by immense global socio-political unrest, with questions related to sexual politics, gender identity, and mental health under increasing scrutiny.

New residency collaboration

The Researcher in Residence Programme was established in 2022 with the mission of bringing art-related research from both national and international scholars to strengthen the academic research at Haugar Art Museum in Tønsberg and Munch’s House in Åsgårdstrand.

The programme is a joint effort between Haugar Art Museum and Munch’s House in partnership with Horten Municipality and Vestfold County Council. RiR offers an opportunity for art researchers to live and work in the picturesque town of Åsgårdstrand.

In 2023, Haugar Art Museum joined forces with the Finnish-Norwegian Culture Institute to offer a residency for Finnish and Finland-based art researchers. Rinne-Kanto was selected through an open call launched in February 2024.

«We are delighted that Haugar Art Museum is collaborating with the Institute and providing a residency to a Finnish art researcher and curator. Our aim is to foster sustainable and long-term cooperation between cultural practitioners, and residencies are a great platform for achieving this. This residency offers an art researcher the opportunity to work at Åsgårdstrand and gain insight into a place that was important to Edvard Munch and his artistic work. It is also a unique opportunity to explore the connections between two Nordic artists, Munch and the Finnish artist Hugo Kalervo Palsa», says Pauliina Gauffin, director of the Finnish-Norwegian Cultural Institute.

About the partners

Haugar Art Museum is a contemporary art museum with an art collection and special exhibitions focusing on Norwegian and international art. Haugar Art Museum works actively to convey contemporary art in a varied form to a large audience. We aim to be an inclusive place where diverse cultural, artistic, social, and political positions are welcome. The museum collaborates locally, regionally, nationally, and internationally through our exhibitions and educational programs.

The Finnish-Norwegian Cultural Institute (FINNO) promotes cultural exchange between Finland and Norway. Our aim is to strengthen co-operation, dialogue, and mobility between professional practitioners of art and culture in both countries.

During her residency, Rinne Kanto will hold two presentations about her research project. The first presentation will be held on 15 August at Haugar Art Museum. Click here for more information about the event.