The European project More-than-Planet is urgently re-examining the way people understand and picture the environment on the level of the planet as a conceptual whole. As part of the project, Finnish partner Photo North - Northern Photographic Centre is launching an open call for artists for two residency programmes in 2023 and 2024.
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.
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. The organisers are looking 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.
The artist or the group selected will be invited to a two-month residency for artistic research and exploration at 1) the Callio Lab underground research station in Pyhäsalmi mine and the surrounding communities, or 2) the multidisciplinary research station in Oulanka National Park and its local communities. Northern Photographic Centre’s 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 weeks depending on the situation, contract and schedules.
