Vadsø Guest Studio (TFFK), Photo North – Northern Photographic Centre, and the Finnish–Norwegian Cultural Institute invite applications for an artist residency programme focusing on contemporary northern landscapes and contemporary phenomenon in Northern regions through photography.
About
This open call is directed at professional artists and artist groups working with photography. We are specially looking for applicants who are based in Northern Finland, Northern Ostrobothnia, Kainuu or Lapland, or identify as “northerners” through a long-term residence in afore mentioned regions, or a strong personal, cultural, or professional connection to northern or Arctic regions.
The programme explores landscape in different forms: how large-scale environmental, political, and industrial transformations are reshaping northern regions and how these processes become visible in landscapes through photography.
The residency programme is dedicated to process and research. As part of the programme, we expect the artist to give an artist talk at the Pohjoinen valokuva festival held in Oulu in autumn 2027. The artist can also present their work in a group exhibition at the Pohjoinen valokuva festival. If so, curatorial guidance will be provided throughout the exhibition process. The aim of the residency is to provide time to develop new or existing projects, as well as spend time exploring the Arctic region.
The selected artist(s) will be invited to participate in:
Thematic focus
The residency focuses on contemporary phenomena affecting northern and Arctic regions, such as the green transition in industry and its impacts on the region (green colonialism) and the natural environment. It also addresses the increasing militarisation of northern and Arctic regions, the geopolitical and environmental pressures intensifying across Sápmi, and the wide-ranging effects of climate change.
In Vadsø, these themes manifest through mining development, aquaculture, wind power, and environmental change. In Oulu and Northern Finland, the arrival of green industry is transforming landscapes and livelihoods. The programme asks: How do these phenomena appear in the landscape through photography?
Living landscape
Following landscape geographer Kenneth Olwig, in the residency project the landscape refers both to the geographical concept of landscape as nature and to the concrete landscapes in which people live, move, and make their living: the meanings people assign to their landscapes in the form of belonging, traditional rights, and home. The project brings forth the challenging contemporary understandings of environment, justice, modernity, and progress. Arguments and actions made in the name of progress and modernity in relation to the landscape concern land itself, which has altered—sometimes even destroyed—places and landscapes of customs, justice, and belonging. The project, in line with Olwig, also warns of the future’s distorted, utopian ideas that support dismantling ordinary landscapes in the name of progress. The interdisciplinary residency collaboration acknowledges that people, as makers of history, consciously and unconsciously create places and landscapes.
Possibility for research collaboration
Artists will have opportunities to engage with ongoing scientific research. Vadsø hosts the COAT – Climate-Ecological Observatory for Arctic Tundra, which monitors the impacts of climate change in Arctic ecosystems.
Through Photo North’s More-than-Planet project, there is also a collaboration possibility with the Oulanka Research Station at the University of Oulu, one of Finland’s key climate research centres. Participating organisations will facilitate potential collaboration with research stations and scientists in the region. However, visiting the research station has to happen at the artist’s own expense.
Curatorial support
Vadsø Guest Studio (TFFK) and Photo North – Northern Photographic Centre provide support before and after the stay at TFFK. The artist will have a pre-meeting with the residency organizers to find the common goals and actions during the residency period. If the artist chooses to participate in the group exhibition as part of the Pohjoinen valokuva festival in 2027, curatorial guidance will be provided throughout the exhibition process.
Shared spaces and facilities
The Guest studio in Vadsø is located in a wooden house from the 1860s, approximately 2 km from Vadsø city center. The residence has previously been the studio of the visual artist, photographer and author Arvid Sveen’s (b. 1944). The accommodation consists of two floors with a floor area of about 80 sqm.
The residency stay is provided by the programme and includes the use of non-toxic graphic equipment and a ceramic kiln. There are two studio/workrooms over two floors with open connection, kitchen, living room, workroom, bedroom and bathroom (toilet, shower and washing machine). The accommodation is fully furnished and free wireless network is offered. The surrounding area is quiet with immediate closeness to the sea and nature. It offers swimming and hiking opportunities, summer and winter.
Practical Information
Application criteria
The open call for applications is open for professional Finnish and Finland-based artists or artists groups, as well as artists who identify as “northerners”.
The application must demonstrate (in English):
Jury
The selection will be made by a professional jury consisting of representatives from: