Saarinen, Kozieł-Kalliomäki and Gustafsson selected for alumni residencies in 2023
Visual artists for Jan van Eyck, LIFT and SPACE alumni residencies in 2023 have now been selected.
Uniarts Helsinki’s Academy of Fine Arts supports the internationalisation of its alumni and career advancement of visual artists in the form of residency grants in collaboration with the Saastamoinen Foundation. The annual funding for the Jan van Eyck Academie alumni residency is 76,600 euros, while the funding for the LIFT alumni residency is 12,300 euros and 12,500 euros for the SPACE alumni residency.
The Academy of Fine Arts has five residency partners. Alumni also have the chance to apply for a grant for the Rijksakademie van beldeende kunsten residency in Amsterdam. The application periods for alumni residencies at Jan van Eyck Academie, SPACE and LIFT ran from 1 to 28 February 2023. The application period for the “Ecologies in the making: Sculpting Futures” residency in Scotland and the ISCP residency in New York will begin in September 2023, and the application period for the Rijksakademie van beeldende kunsten residency ends each year on 1 October.
The international expert juries with yearly changing compositions pre-select the grant applicants, out of whom the residency centres selected the next Academy of Fine Arts alumni for the residencies.
Jan van Eyck Academie
Sculptor Raimo Saarinen was selected for an 11-month residency period at Jan van Eyck Academie in Maastricht starting from 1 November 2023.
The jury described Saarinen’s practice as follows:
The body of work feels coherent and ambitious, and the application conveys an openness to reassess and question his practice. The application feels custom-made to the specificities of the JvE in relation to his practice. The project proposal working with scent is promising and could give back something valuable and intangible to a practice that is highly sculptural and spatial.
Jury panel for alumni residency at Jan van Eyck Academie 2023:
- Lecturer in Art Pedagogy Marika Orenius, Uniarts Helsinki’s Academy of Fine Arts
- Curator and Director Çelenk Bafra, SAHA, Istanbul
- Curator and Resident Liaison Bruno Alves de Almeida, Jan van Eyck Academie, Maastricht
Liaison of Independent Filmmakers of Toronto
Natalia Kozieł-Kalliomäki, who operates within the field of printmaking and analogue film, was selected for the LIFT residency programme in Toronto. The three-month residency period will take place in Canada in autumn 2023. LIFT is an artist-run production and education organisation in the field of media art demonstrating excellence in the moving image, in particular.
The jury described Kozieł-Kalliomäki’s practice as follows:
The applicant’s printmaking background informs her approach, in that she is thinking about commonalities between printmaking and film. In addition to these media she uses other tools and media, including collage, performance and live music. Working from a firm, hands-on 16mm knowledge base, she will benefit from developing those skills at LIFT, which she can bring back to the benefit of the filmmaking community in Finland.
Jury panel for LIFT residency:
- Filmmaker and Lecturer Joakim Pusenius, Uniarts Helsinki’s Academy of Fine Arts
- Filmmaker, Artist, Author and Professor Nicky Hamlyn, Brussels
- Film Programmer Nepheli Gambade, Paris
SPACE
Tatu Gustafsson was selected for a three-month SPACE residency in London. The jury described Gustafsson’s practice as follows:
The artist works conceptually with various media including photos, found images and installation. The jury were interested in how the artist looked at things we take for granted, everyday objects, weather cameras with subtle gestures that transform into artwork. We could clearly see the potential benefit of being situated in London to move forward as an artist and consider their work with geographic distance and within a different context.
Jury panel for SPACE alumni residency 2023
- Director of Studios Emma Hannon, Somerset House, London
- Artist, Curator and Writer Robert Stasinski, Stockholm
- Lecturer Tuomo Rainio, Uniarts Helsinki’s Academy of Fine Arts
