Deadline: Tuesday 9 September, 15:00pm (GMT+3)

For Finnish and Finland based artists to undertake a residency for 11 months at HIAP Suomenlinna.

Residency Period: 7 January – 30 November 2026

About HIAP Residencies 

HIAP – Helsinki International Artist Programme invites Finnish and Finland-based artists to apply for an 11 month residency during 2026, at our studios in Suomenlinna.  

HIAP offers time and support for artists to develop new work in dialogue with the local art scene. We encourage experimental, cross-disciplinary practices across all art forms. The 11 month residency is focused on individual artists (as opposed to collective). Family members are welcome.

Residencies are self-directed and process-oriented, allowing for open-ended research and experimentation. There is no obligation to produce finalised work. 

“HIAP is an internationally unique residency, located on a small fortress island, also a UNESCO cultural heritage site. It offers great working spaces with only a 15 minute ferry ride from the centre of Helsinki, but still providing a feeling of being in a small village close to nature in the archipelago. In my personal experience, HIAP functions as a well run residency with professional staff helping the artist/curator with their needs. Leaving them with a feeling of care and love towards the residents and the institution itself.’ – Matti Aikio (11 Month Resident 2025)

“The 11-month residency at HIAP has been one of the most precious times in my life, a period of building friendships and community through solidarity and collective movements. I deeply appreciate the space it gave me to reflect on my practice, and even more, I cherish the special time spent with fellow residents from all over the world on the island, sharing our work as well as our daily lives with meals, saunas, and swims. These 11 months on Suomenlinna will always hold a special place in my heart.” – Yujie Zhou (11 Month Resident 2024)

Residency Conditions

• The residency is free of charge — HIAP does not charge a fee to the residents.
• HIAP does not provide working grants / stipend, production budgets, or travel funding.
• If Residents need to seek external funding for the residency, HIAP can supply letters of support for applications.
• The residency takes place in HIAP Suomenlinna Atelier apartments (~80 sqm): Furnished live/work studios with a downstairs working space and a separate living area upstairs (sleeping loft, kitchenette, bathroom).

All residents have 24/7 access to HIAP community facilities on Suomenlinna such as the Community Room, Project Space, Equipment Room, and Wood Workshop. Some Equipment (e.g., projectors, sound systems) is available to borrow.

More information about the residency programme and the facilities is available here: https://www.hiap.fi/residency/

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Residency Activities

Residents can choose to take part in activities organised by HIAP during their residency period. These activities include:

• Welcome lunch with all newly arrived residents and local guests, with an opportunity to present your practice.
• Weekly afternoon coffees in HIAP’s Community Room to check in with fellow residents and hear from visitors to HIAP’s premises. 
• Trips and visits to openings and events taking place in Helsinki: the HIAP Residency Team will gather and share weekly roundups of events happening  in the city. 
• Open Studios with an opportunity to share works in progress: this is one of HIAP’s most popular events that takes place towards the end of the residency season and provides an opportunity to celebrate. 

HIAP also hosts and organises events and exhibitions in its own premises, and in collaboration with local partners which Residents are warmly welcome to. 

Accessibility

Accessibility information for the residency site is available here. 

If you would like any further information about accessibility, or would like to discuss your access requirements in advance of making an application, please contact office@hiap.fi. A separate access budget is not available for the residency. 

Within the form there is a dedicated section where you can include information about your access requirements. You can also choose to upload an Access Rider separately. This will not be included in the jury process and will be treated with strict confidence. You do not have to declare your access requirements in advance of making the application and there will be further opportunity to share this following selection.

Unfortunately information about this Open Call is not currently available in other formats such as large print, International Sign Language or audio formats. We hope this will change in the future. If this is a barrier for you, please contact us on office@hiap.fi and we will do our best to support you. 

Inclusion and Diversity 

HIAP is committed to fostering a safe and inclusive environment.

• HIAP’s Safer Spaces Policy is available here.
• HIAP Staff and Residents agree to abide by a Code of Conduct, which is available here. 

People from the global majority*, who are LGBTQIA+, disabled** and/or from working class or low socioeconomic backgrounds are particularly encouraged to apply.

*Global majority is a collective term for people of Indigenous, African, Asian or Latin American descent. 

**This includes but is not limited to those who define as disabled people, as people with long term health conditions, as deaf, Deaf, neurodivergent or in relation to their health-related access requirements. 

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Who Can Apply

This call is for Finnish and Finland-based artists. Family members are welcome in all HIAP residences. The atelier apartments are not pet friendly. 

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How to Apply

Applications must be submitted via the online application form. Applications sent by email will not be considered.

Required materials:

• Brief outline of your professional background and biography (up to 500 words)
• Motivation statement (up to 500 words)
• Work Plan (up to 250 words)
• Portfolio / examples of previous work (max. 10 images or 3 video/audio files) provided as an external link (no upload optional available).

Application deadline: Tuesday 9 September 2025, 15:00 (GMT +3)

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Selection Criteria

The selections will be made by a jury consisting of artists and art professionals, including HIAP representatives. The Jury will meet on 23 September 2025, after which you will hear from us on the next steps. The jury will evaluate the applications based on the following criteria:

• Motivation: does the applicant make a strong argument as to why they want to undertake the residency?
• Relevance: would the residency have a potentially meaningful impact on the local art scene?
• Topicality: does the focus of the proposal resonate well with topical issues?
• Diversity: does the applicant consider diversity within their practice and / or how would they contribute to the diversity of the HIAP residency programme in terms of practice and lived experience?

Quality of applications will be assessed across multiple areas including relevancy, originality and distinctiveness, rigour, presentation, vision and impactfulness. 

The final selection will be made based on the highest scoring applicants against the above criteria, and balance across the HIAP programme. 

Due to the volume of applications, individual feedback cannot be provided. However we will endeavour to summarise the key jury discussion points and share with all who applied. 

A note on the use of AI in the applications:

As a principle, the use of AI in development of applications is not an issue and we recognise how important AI is as an access and inclusion tool. Unfortunately, we have found in recent open calls that AI is being used to generate the content of applications (as opposed to supporting the writing and editing process), and this has often resulted in proposals with lack voice and authenticity. 

We reference this not to demonise the use of AI in application processes, but to encourage applicants who are using AI to consider how they can maintain their own unique voice within their proposals and avoid weakening their individuality.