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.