Deadline: Tuesday 23 September 2025, 15:00 (GMT+3)

Funded by the Nordic Culture Point, these residencies are for artists based outside of Finland and in the Nordic Baltic region only.

Residency Period: 13 April – 16 July 2026

Residency Location: HIAP Suomenlinna Studios (Helsinki, Finland) + 3 day retreat to TUO TUO (Joutsa, Finland)

About Learning Materials

HIAP, Bioart Society, Koynẽ Program and SWAMP: Art Material and Waste Management Point and TUO TUO invite applications for a new pilot residency programme focused on socially engaged, process-orientated and material-driven practices. 

Learning Materials investigates how biomaterials, traditional practices, new technology and existing knowledges can be brought together to rethink our relationship with materials and the planet. The project aims to focus on conscious and tangible approaches to ecological and sustainable material practices for artists and communities. 

The project’s intent is also to investigate obstacles and solutions related to the use of sustainable materials in the operations of cultural organisations, focusing on the implementation of multipurpose, reusable and recyclable materials.

Hosted at HIAP Helsinki International Artist Programme (Suomenlinna Studios), 3 artists based outside of Finland in one of the Nordic Baltic countries will undertake a 3 month residency. 

The residencies will respond to one or more of the following themes under the Learning Materials umbrella:

Waste and circular economies

Material legacies and biomaterials

Tourism and greenwashing

Each theme has been generated in response to a material challenge the project partners are investigating, which relate to their locale and communities. Artists will need to demonstrate expertise in material and socially-engaged practices (as opposed to artists looking to learn or experiment for the first time).

The residency focuses on research and experimentation, with no designated output. Residents have the opportunity to share their practice through the delivery of a Learning Materials Lab, and through publishing one text (or other format) online via the partners websites at the end of the residency period. The artists also have the option to participate in HIAP’s broader residency programme, including Open Studios.

During the residency, artists will have support from and access to the expertise and facilities of each partner and their networks. This activity will be the first time the project partners have collaborated to pool expertise, resources and facilities in this way. 

The outcomes of the residency and feedback from the artists will be used to further define and develop the future of the Learning Materials project.

The residency will be hosted throughout at HIAP Suomenlinna Studios. The residents and partners will visit TUO TUO residency in Joutsa for a 3 day evaluation retreat in the final week of the residency. 

About The Partners

The partners represent some of Finland’s leading organisations in sustainable material practice, residencies and artist support. We work at the intersection of art, science and society and play a critical role in the transition towards ecologically conscious art and design practices. What unites us is a commitment to experimentation and the advancement of artists and communities’ understanding of their relationship to the planet and one another.

Each partner brings to the project a diversity of expertise and resources, including a vast web of local, national and international networks. 

HIAP Helsinki International Artist Programme will lead on the residency programme and its coordination. HIAP has been delivering residencies for international artists since 1998. In the last decade, HIAP has led a series of collaborative projects investigating ecological thinking and sustainable practices including the Post Fossil Transition Project and Frontiers in Retreat. 

TUO TUO will host an ecology-immersive visit in Joutsa, orienting the artists to diverse ecosystems: rewilding gardens, coniferous forests, swamps, bogs, and sites of anthropocentric disturbance. 

Bioart Society, a membership association working in the field of art & science, will lead on thinking and making in terms of material legacies and biomaterials, as well as embedding interdisciplinary practices and expertise into the programme.

SWAMP will provide advice and expertise on ensuring the project is built and delivered with  circular economy at its core. It will also provide residents with second-hand materials from its storage for recycling, reusing and repurposing.

Koynẽ Program will embed principles on how materiality engages with situated technological processes into the project’s curatorial framework, offering advice and support to the participating artists.

The artists will be paired with SWAMP, Bioart Society or Koynẽ Program for research and curatorial support during their residency. 

Residency Conditions

• Travel to and from the artist’s home – we encourage slow travel (see here). 
• Internal travel budget for field trips and research up to €150.
• Working Grant of €1300 per month (€3900 in total).
• Material budget up to €750. 
• Budget for delivering a Learning Materials Lab up to €400.
• Publication budget of €200 for delivery of text at end of residency.

These residencies are made possible thanks to the support of Nordic Culture Point and are specifically for artists based outside of Finland, in the Nordic Baltic countries (Denmark, the Faroe Islands, Greenland, Iceland, Norway, Sweden, Åland, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania). 

About HIAP Residencies

Located on a UNESCO World Heritage Site, Suomenlinna is a 15 minute ferry ride from Helsinki city centre. 

The artists will be provided with a Residency Apartment and separate shared working space in HIAP’s workshop. 

The Residency Apartment (~30 sqm) are furnished living spaces with kitchenette, desk space and bathroom, accommodating up to 2 adults. 

The Workspace will be shared between the 3 selected artists, and located in HIAP’s main building within the workshop facilities which include wood work and carpentry. 

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/

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. 

The selected artists are invited to deliver a Learning Materials Lab during the residency period, to share their practice, as well as produce a piece of writing for publication at the end of the residency period. 

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 project. 

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. 

Who Can Apply

This call is for artists living and working outside of Finland and based in a Nordic Baltic country (Denmark, the Faroe Islands, Greenland, Iceland, Norway, Sweden, Åland, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania).

Arts practitioners from all disciplines are welcome to apply. Whilst experimentation is encouraged, you must be able to demonstrate a long term commitment to the Learning Materials themes within your practice beyond the scope of this residency programme. 

There is one pet friendly residency apartment in Suomenlinna Studios. Family members are welcome with no extra residency fees but must cover their own travel costs.

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 including how your work responds to the Learning Materials themes (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 23 September 2025, 15:00 (GMT +3)

Decision Making and Timeline

A panel of representatives from each partner organisation will make the selection. The Jury will meet on 16 October 2025 to agree a shortlist, after which you will hear from us on the next steps.

Shortlisted applicants will be invited to an interview with the panel, due to take place online on 30 October 2025. If you cannot make this date, please notify us within your application.

Selection Criteria

The selections will be made by a jury consisting of representatives from the partner organisations. 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 one or more of the Learning Materials themes (Waste and circular economies; Material legacies and biomaterials; Tourism and greenwashing)?
• Diversity: does the applicant consider diversity within their practice and / or how would they contribute to the diversity of the 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 a lack of 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.