Xiao Zhiyu and Paola Guzmán selected grantees for Jan van Eyck Academie and LIFT alumni residencies
The visual artists for the Liaison of Independent Filmmakers of Toronto alumni residency in autumn 2024 and the Jan van Eyck Academie alumni residency in Maastricht in 2025 have been selected.
Together with the Saastamoinen Foundation, Uniarts Helsinki’s Academy of Fine Arts supports the internationalisation of its alumni and their career advancement as visual artists in the form of residency grants. The support for the Jan van Eyck Academie 11-month residency programme is 76 600 €, while the support for the LIFT 3-month residency programme is 12 300 €.
Each year, the international expert juries with yearly changing compositions pre-select the grant applicants out of the Academy of Fine Arts alumni, after which the residency centres then make the final selections.
Xiao Zhiyu, a 2022 graduate of the Academy of Fine Arts and a visual artist working in painting and installation art, was selected for an 11-month residency at Jan van Eyck Academie in Maastricht, starting in January 2025. Jan van Eyck Academie is one of Europe’s most renowned international residency centres for doctoral studies, with a programme involving about 45 artists, designers, researchers, writers and curators each year.
The pre-selection panel described Zhiyu’s application as follows:
The applicant has a clear and convincing proposal that draws on trans-national and decolonial discourses and challenges the Western concepts of landscape and painting. The applicant’s methodology of implementing installations and exhibitions that are process and research based, highlights self- and institutional criticality.
Evaluation panel for Jan van Eyck Academie residency applications 2024:
- Rosa Lleó, curator, founder and director of The Green Parrot (Barcelona)
- Sona Stepanyan, independent curator (Stockholm)
- Samir Bhowmik, artist-researcher and academy research fellow at Uniarts Helsinki’s Academy of Fine Arts
Paola Fernanda Guzmán Figueroa, a visual artist working with experimental film and a 2022 master’s graduate of the Academy of Fine Arts, was selected for the Liaison of Independent Filmmakers of Toronto residency programme. The three-month residency period will begin in Canada in autumn 2024. LIFT is an artist-run production and education organisation in the field of media art demonstrating excellence in the moving image, in particular.
The pre-selection panel described Guzmán’s application as follows:
The applicant’s work is focused on analog and experimental film, following a hands-on approach that would make her a good candidate for LIFT. The applicant is aware of the facilities and equipment available on site. She has been very active and committed within the film community (Filmverkstaden) and the medium field already before applying. She has also done a lot, demonstrating her commitment and motivation.
Evaluation panel for LIFT residency applications 2024:
- Ieva Balode, artist and film curator, Baltic Analogue Network
- Xavier García Bardón, independent film curator, Université Libre de Bruxelles
- Salla Tykkä, professor of time and space arts, Uniarts Helsinki’s Academy of Fine Arts
Uniarts Helsinki’s Academy of Fine Arts has five residency partners. Alumni also have the chance to apply for a grant for a residency at Rijksakademie van Beldeende Kunsten in Amsterdam. The LIFT alumni residency was available for application in February 2024, while the Jan van Eyck Academie alumni residency was available for application in March 2024. 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 2024. The application period for the Rijksakademie van beeldende kunsten residency closes in October each year.