Open Call | Platform – Residencies 2023, Vasa, Finland

Platform is an art organisation based in Vasa, a relatively peripheral Finnish town. We run an art space and a residency to offer live experiences of different perspectives in a location where this would otherwise be limited. The last few years this has been a challenge.

We usually work with an annual theme that we also encourage our guest artists to examine. In 2022 we tried to stay positive, be cheerful, start over and start fresh. We thought that “New beginnings” would be a good theme for the year. But it turns out things didn’t really start anew, mostly everything just kept on grinding or gathering dust.

So for 2023/24 we want to try something different. Instead of giving you a theme to respond to we would like to ask a question and reflect on the artist’s role, the practice of the artist and the relevance of art work/art works. What is the relevance of your work and artworks and how does your practice relate to the Platform residency question?

– Artists who react to and are interested in working with local issues
– Artists who work with place-specific projects.
– Artists who are comfortable working independently in a small town.

Offered by the residency:

Accommodation, travel expenses (one return trip, cheapest possible) and a working grant (approx. 300 € per week). We also offer a small production budget of 1000 €, which the artist may reimburse by presenting original receipts of purchases, specifically connected to the project produced during the residency. The apartment is located near the city center in Vaasa. There is a bike, a set of tools and equipment available for the artist. There is wireless broadband access in the apartment. Platform does not at the moment house a studio, however a project space in the city center is available. The planned projects have to take this into account, space can be rented or borrowed if needed for the realization of the project and has to be negotiated in advance. The artist is given a contact person who is in charge of necessary arrangements, if any additional assistance is needed it has to be agreed upon well in advance.

How to Apply:

Please follow these instructions closely. Applications not following these requirements will not be considered. We require the artist to send a digital application to info@platform.fi with the subject ‘Residency Application 2023’ by the 10th of July 2022. The application should be one PDF document with your full name as the title of the document. Don’t paste any relevant information in the email that is not part of the PDF.

Please include the following in the PDF:

-An informal project plan OR motivation letter, max one page. The aim of the letter should be describing the kind of project you imagine doing in Vaasa, your motivation to apply for this residency and your expectations, how you see that your artistic work connects to the question of “The relevance of artworks and art work?” The project plan should also include your preferred period of time, and state if the time period is relevant for the project as well as clearly state what time/ times that aren’t suitable.
-Descriptions and images of 5 projects or art works. For videos, please add direct links to websites in the PDF.
-A CV of max two pages, including: name, date and place of birth, current location as well as email and phone number.

The application shall occupy no more than 12 pages and 5 mb. The board of Platform will make the selection. Only chosen artists will receive a notification about the selection during end of July 2022. The board is under no obligation to justify the selection. If you have questions about the residency please ask them well before the deadline.

Website: Platform