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The project “Narratives of Finland: Historical Culture, Arts and Changing Nationality” is looking for art works and artistic processes that challenge notions of Finnishness and offer new viewpoints on the stories of the Finnish nation and changing concepts of nationality.
Our research project is studying through historical culture how narratives of Finland and Finnishness have been and still are created, negotiated and mediated. By historical culture we mean all activities in which representations of the past are produced, mediated, and used in society. By analyzing museum exhibitions and fiction as well as documentary films, the project researches how history is used to create the Finnish nation.
With this open call the project wants to find artistic ways of challenging existing narratives of who the Finns are and what kind of past has shaped them. We invite artists to offer their view on a nation in change from the perspective of a diverse society.
We are interested in:
The call is open to all art forms. Your artistic proposal can be for example sound or video art, poetry, performance, visual arts or some other form you want to work with.
The project is committed to diversity and we want to give an arena to underrepresented perspectives. We encourage artists from diverse backgrounds to apply independent for example of origin, language, nationality, belief, gender, gender identity, possible disability or age.
In the selection, we consider, in addition to the artistic quality, the artist’s attempt at contributing their own perspective to the public debate about the Finnish past and at challenging concepts of Finnishness, as well as considerations about the practical realization of the proposal within the possibilities of the project.
The selected artists are paid a fee of 900€ – 2500€ depending on the works and their implementation.
Presentation and timetable of the project
The chosen works of art will be presented in cooperation with Mannerheim Museum, Helinä Rautavaara Museum, Cultural Centre Caisa and Gallen-Kallela Museum. There will be 1-2 artists selected for each partner organization and the works will be presented as part of the museums’ ongoing exhibitions or in the case of Caisa as an event organized by the project. In connection with the presentation of the art works we will organize an artist talk and discussion event together with the association Historians without borders. The works are documented and can also be presented as part of the project’s book publication “Kansakuntaa kertomassa” (in progress, to be published in 2024).
You can tell us in the application if you’d like to work with one of the above partners in particular, but it’s not mandatory.
Your application should include:
You can write your application in Finnish, Swedish or English. If these languages are problematic, please contact us.
Send your application to the address [email protected] by 15. 12. 2022 the latest.
For more information: Martina Marti, [email protected]
For more information about the project: https://suomentarinat.fi/
We are organizing a Q&A session about the project’s artistic part, the open call and its implementation on Friday 11th November 2022 from 5 to 7 pm at office of Globe Art Point (Malminkatu 5, 00100 Helsinki). The main language of the event is Finnish and it is also possible to ask questions in English. You’re warmly welcome! More info about the space: http://www.globeartpoint.fi/our-facilities/