open call: deep water

What roles do art, culture, and creative industries play in creating a sustainable, dynamic, and viable regional society? The Vadsø Art Association, the Varanger festival, Vadsø guest studio (TFFK), the Artists’ Association of Lapland, and the Finnish Norwegian Cultural Institute invite artists to participate in a new open call.

The call is open to professional artists or artist groups from Finland or Finnish Lapland, as well as those who may not originally come from these areas, but who identify as northerners by virtue of either living in or having a connection with the north.

The open call is looking for site-specific projects to be produced in Vadsø during the Varanger festival 9-12 August 2023. The chosen artist(s) will also be invited to a two-week residency at Vadsø guest studio from 16-30 January 2023. The open call seeks to encourage co-operation and dialogue beyond borders in the northern regions of Norway and Finland. The organisers encourage artists to co-create in dialogue with the local community in Vadsø.

The northern regions of Norway and Finland are under pressure, caused by the trend of people moving to urban areas due to ever-increasing urbanisation and politics. Research examining how to stem this trend and encourage people to relocate to these areas and contribute to their growth has pointed to sectors such as aquaculture, tourism, and wind power as part of the solution. But will this development be sustainable? And what about the quality of residents’ day-to-day lives and the businesses that are connected to the culture and human resources in the area as a possible source for growth? Are these resources shared across borders?