Konst i Halland and the KulttuuriKauppila Art Center are implementing a residency exchange. A visual artist was sought from the North Ostrobothnia and Kainuu regions.
”We are delighted to inform you that after careful consideration, we have selected the artist Kati Leionen to come to our residency in Katrineberg/ Vessigebro in October. We are thrilled to welcome her to our region.
We are confident that a meeting with Halland will offer Kati new insights and experiences that will inspire her creative process. Her work is truly extraordinary. Her pieces evoke a profound sense of stillness and concentration, compelling the viewer to pause and reflect. The compositions she creates elevate the significance and complexity of the subjects she portrays, revealing layers of meaning and connection. We are confident that her visit will offer our community a unique and enriching perspective.”
The residency exchange will take place in October 2025.
“I am really happy about this opportunity to work at the Halland residency. I plan to go on an exploration trip to Halland and utilize the new environment to create a site-specific video work. I also hope to develop new working models for myself for future projects. I am looking forward to October.”
Kati Leinonen (b. 1974) is an artist from Oulu who has studied photography at the London College of Printing (BA) and audiovisual media culture at the University of Lapland (TaM). Leinonen works on long-term documentary subjects that arise from everyday life and the communities in which the artist is present. In her recent works, Leinonen has explored, among other things, the concepts of memory and remembering. Animals and otherness are at the heart of Leinonen’s latest exhibition Laidunmaa, which is currently on display at Nokia Art Space Raami. Her previous exhibition Vastapuu – jäämistö was on display at Hippolyten Korjaamo (2022) and as part of a larger portrait exhibition Encounters – the changing materialities of portraiture at Arktikum in Rovaniemi (2023). His exhibition Äimärautio, which deals with contemporary horse culture, has been on display at the Oulu Art Museum and the Finnish Museum of Photography, among others. A photo book of the same name was published in 2018 and was nominated for the Photography Book of the Year 2019. Leinonen’s works can be found in the collections of the Finnish State Fine Arts Commission and the Finnish Museum of Photography, among others.
Open Call WILD BITS deadline: 24th of March 2025
WILD BITS OPEN CALL! 
artwork Janis Polar “kuker/site”; photo Epp KubuNorthern AiR included in the Oulu2026 – European Capital of Culture program
KulttuuriKauppila Art Centre and the Northern AiR network are producing an open call for the Oulu2026 program, the theme of which is landscape and environment. The goal is a cultural climate where we see the effects of man on his environment, but also the possibilities for peaceful coexistence – also among species.
The focus of the program is working in an environmental residency. Artists and researchers whose work is related to nature, landscape or the environment are invited and selected for the environmental residency. In particular, artists, researchers and creators are selected for the residency, who deal with solastalgia, i.e. sadness for a place, in their work. Placesickness means anxiety caused by a change in the familiar environment. Environmental anxiety and environmental sadness is often a consequence of climate change, but it can also be understood more broadly as place-related anxiety produced by, for example, war or refugees.
The Oulu2026 residency application will be opened continuously from spring 2024 and works will be produced through it for the years 2025-2026. Applications are reviewed every six months and artists are selected for the program on the basis of the projects’ professionalism, feasibility and suitability for the program.
The goal of the Oulu2026 residency program is to create a high-level and environmentally themed series of works for the 2026 program in the region. At the same time, the activity deepens and expands the cooperation of residence operators in the region and strengthens the operators’ international potential. The works are basically implemented in the operating locations of the Northern AiR network: Iissä, Hailuodo, Kärsämäki, Oululainen, Kuusamo, Raahe and elsewhere in the residency network’s operating area. The flagship productions of 2026 will be realized in carefully selected experiential environments.
Hybridize My Festival/Residence? -tapahtuma, Oulussa 22.4.
Northern AiR järjestää yhteistyössä Oulu2026 TechArt -hankkeen kanssa Hybridize My Festival/Residence? -tapahtuman (Oulu Lapland Hotel) 22.4.2022 klo 10.00–15.00. Kansainvälisessä ajankohtaisseminaarissa eurooppalaiset asiantuntijat esittelevät sitä, mitä siirtyminen hybriditapahtumiin on muuttanut festivaalien, residenssien ja kulttuurikentän työtä ja miten tästä eteenpäin. Mitkä digitaaliset tapahtumat ja etäratkaisut toimivat, mitkä eivät?
Ilmoittautuminen (avoinna 13.4. saakka) ja alustava ohjelma:
https://www.eventbrite.com/e/techart-webinar-hybridize-your-festival-tickets-168799924117
Kuusamo ARK welcomes applications!
Plenty of open calls to residencies around the world!
The world might not return to as we have known it, but there are plenty of open calls to residencies around the globe:
Res Artis open calls
The first Northern AiR podcast in Finnish from Hailuoto
The first Northern AiR podcast in Finnish from the residence in Hailuoto Kulttuuritalo Päiväkoti with Sanna Roukala.
https://soundcloud.com/user-59821095-468330731/northernairpodcast1hailuoto
The Northern AiR podcasts cover residency activities from various viewpoints. The first one in English will be conducted in August.
This page will house all podcasts. Jaksot löytyvät myös aina Soundcloudista.
Northern AiR pilot projects
The KRIPA project builds an international artist residence innovative network, which aims to pool the resources of the residences and resources in our region of Northern Ostrobothnia. The network is called Northern AiR. One of the objectives is to conduct pilot projects in the region. Further information and instructions available in Finnish here.
If you are interested in the specifics in English, please contact:
Project Manager Kai Latvalehto,
kai.latvalehto@ii.fi
Residency 101 seminar March 26, 2021.
The Northern AiR residency 101 seminar was held March 26.
All material and recordings below are in Finnish.
10.00 Presentation of the Kripa project and the Northern Air network. Kai Latvalehto.
10.15 Awareness short film and greetings. Arttu Nieminen.
10.25 Part 2, residency activities 101:
Panel discussion with Pauliina Leikas, Jetta Huttunen and Riikka Suomi-Chande. Moderated by Kai Latvalehto.
Riitta Heinämaa presented her report on Finnish residencies, Suomalainen residenssitoiminta tänään.
13.00 Mural artist Tony Sjöman, New York.
13.10 Part 3: economical issues in residencies 102. Moderated by Sanna Roukala. Pauliina Leikas, Jetta Huttunen, Kaisa Kerätär ja Riikka Suomi-Chande.
14.40 Rastas & Länsimetro-tytöt. Live music.
The Northern AiR seminar was streamed live from Oulu Space Studio.
The participants were Pauliina Leikas representing the Mustarinda residency, Riikka Suomi-Chande from the Finnish Artists’ Studio Foundation, Jetta Huttunen from Ii KulttuuriKauppila, Sanna Roukala from Hailuoto Kulttuuritalo Päiväkoti, Northern AiR/Kripa project manager Kai Latvalehto, producer and creative arts agent Kaisa Kerätär and Riitta Heinämaa.
NORTHERN AIR
Kai Latvalehto
+358 40 5853717 / kai.latvalehto@ii.fi
Art Centre KulttuuriKauppila /
Kauppilantie 15, 91100 Ii, Finland
www.northernair.fi