Open call for More-than-Planet residencies

23 January – 28 February 2023, (FI)

Oulanka. Image: Antti Tenetz

Oulanka, Finland. Image: Antti Tenetz

Oulanka, Finland. Image: Antti Tenetz

As part of More-than-Planet, Photo North – Northern Photographic Centre (FI) announces an open call for artists into two residency programmes for 2023 and 2024.

Deadline for applications: 28 February 2023

What new perspectives, knowledge and novel solutions can we imagine in an era of accelerating environmental change? The residency programme calls for artists and workgroups who approach future studies, change detection and environmental change broadly through art and science. The More-than-Planet project and its residency programmes aim to re-examine our understanding of the bigger picture on the planetary level.

Themes

The themes of the residency are observation of environmental change and artistic exploration of alternative futures and solutions through questions concerning climate, ecology, land use patterns, water ecology, the carbon cycle and social and cultural change. We look for artists who develop and challenge traditional forms of collaboration of art and science, questioning and offering new perspectives. The artists are expected to work in collaboration with both researchers and local communities.

The residency is open to all forms of art but places an emphasis on artistic practices that employ lens-based techniques. The residencies will take place in 2023 and 2024.This open call for artists seeks proposals that open new perspectives and develop novel ideas for works that draw on different methods, technologies, scenarios and identifiable experiences leading to a deeper and broader picture of the change and the solutions it calls for.

Residencies at two locations

Oulanka research station and river. Image: Antti Tenetz

Oulanka research station and river. Image: Antti Tenetz

Oulanka research station and river. Image: Antti Tenetz

The artist or the group selected will be invited to a two-month residency for artistic research and exploration at the 1) Callio Lab underground research station in Pyhäsalmi mine and the surrounding communities or 2) the multidisciplinary research station in Oulanka National Park and the local communities. Our satellite and remote sensing data collaboration partner is the European Space Agency’s earth observation unit ESRIN (ESA Centre for Earth Observation) located in Frascati, Italy.

The artist or group will be paid a total of 15,000 EUR for a two-month period of residency and independent work resulting in a new artwork. The residency period will run from April 2023 to May 2024. The residency programme will finance the accommodation and travel expenses of the participants and support the production of the works in terms of content, production and technology. Duration of the continuous working period in the residency location is 2-4 week depending on the situation, contract and schedules

Selection criteria

The resident artists are selected by a jury of four members: Antti Tenetz, More-than-Planet project manager (Photo North – Northern Photographic Centre), Darja Zaitsev, executive director, curator (Photo North – Northern Photographic Centre), and Emmi Itäranta renowned Finnish fiction author.

In addition to the artistic portfolio of the applicant or the group, the selection will be based on evaluation of the concept of the work, its artistic quality, the feasibility of the plan and its relation to the themes of the residencies of the More-than-Planet project. We welcome mind-blowing, novel ways of thinking and provocative perspectives. The jury may contact the applicants for further information prior to selection. The implementation and the content of the works will be developed in collaboration with the project participants.

The international research project More-Than-Planet develops environmental literacy through space exploration, artistic work and collaboration between 2022 and 2025. The project has received Creative Europe funding and national match funding from the City of Oulu and the Finnish National Agency for Education.