Residency artists can conclude her/his stay at the artist residency with a presentation,
such as a site-specific exhibition or a performance, of the project realized during her/his stay.
SUMMER 2023
The Old Harbour Art Trail
For the first time an Environmental Art Trail is realised in Jakobstad, which brings together a number of prominent, International artists. The artworks are created outdoors in the Old Harbour area, with material found in the forest, by the seashore, or other (purchased) environmentally friendly materials. Some artworks will stay in the forest for many years, and the nature will slowly change their appearance, while other works have a short lifespan.
AUGUST 2023
The press is talking about us:
Österbottens Tidning August 17th 2023
Torggata blad nr3, Autumn 2023
VEIKKO BJÖRK is a visual artist working with environmental art, sculptures and installations. He is based in Helsinki, Finland. In his environmental artworks he tries to blur the confrontation between man and nature. Through art, he seeks opportunities to be part of the everythingness, respecting other species and without destroying the environment. In previous art works, he criticised the frenzy of human destruction of the environment. In contemporary environmental artworks, the joy of participation and sharing has become central.
SALLY KIDALL travels internationally creating her vast site-responsive conceptual interventions within challenging outdoor
locations and buildings of interest, showing beyond the restraints of the gallery. She explores metaphorical spaces and
environments that engage with the anxieties and insecurities of our contemporary society. She endeavour to inspire and
challenge a wider audience, evoking thoughts/questions and stimulating discussion. The majority of her works are
temporary and often incorporate virtual and narrative elements. Her background is in sculpture and has exhibited
throughout the UK and Australia, USA, Senegal, France, Spain, Italy, Germany, Ukraine, S.Korea, New Zealand, India,
Andorra, Netherlands.
THOMAS MAY, is the founder and director of the Grassblade Institute, with which he researches the relationship between
humans and grass. Since 2000 he has been asking people around the world to carve a blade of grass out of a wooden
stick for his Grassblade project in order to create a cross-cultural image of this simple but fascinating plant. With his
interventions in nature, Thomas May maintains a comfortable distance from nature, even if he mostly realizes projects
in it. He exposes his objects to the influence of constant changes by elements such as light, wind, and so on. In their
transience, they show the power and beauty of our world in a fascinating way, but also ask fundamental questions about
life and death.
PIRKO JULIA SCHRÖDER‘s photographic works, she documents and transfers places and objects. Space, time, transience are themes that she works on, starting from the everyday and leaving them to the individual perception of the viewer. It’s all about traces. About reading the signs that people and animals have left behind. What can this tell us about a place? Structures and phenomena created by humans are the field of Pirko Julia Schröder’s artistic research using the media of photography, video and space. She does not stay in the frame on the wall in her photography, but usually installs photograps site specifically.
JULY 2023
The press is talking about us:
Österbottens Tidning July 19th 2023
Österbottens Tidning July 4th 2023
AMARSAIKHAN NAMSRAIJAV‘s Nomadic project started in 2009. Through nomadic culture and life style he is trying to
spread ideas on how to live in harmony with mother nature, and how to live nature friendly in the future. Mongolian
historic nomadic traditions, heritage and culture was in a good harmony and relation with earth and sky, mountains
and rivers, and all surroundings through the cycling of the four seasons. Embracing and keeping this nomadic tradition
alive, and introducing, spreading it to the world, is the main aim Amarsaikhan Namsraijav’s Nomadic project.
CHIA-HUI LUO is a contemporary artist from Taiwan who has been dedicated to painting and site-specific installations
for many years. Her works over the years present emotional fragments that are often overlooked in life through the
vocabulary of the materials themselves, with spatial installations using mixed media as the main medium.
In her past creations, she often integrates woven strings related to her own memories of growing up into specific sites,
and combines local objects to create various mixed art scenes.
July 18-30, 2023
Pedersörenejdens hembygdsmuseum / Pedersören kotiseutumuseo
JUNE 2023
The press is talking about us:
Österbottens Tidning June 9th 2023
Pietarsaaren Sanomat June 14th 2023
In 1990 HELINÄ HUKKATAIVAL began to focus on performance art and later expanded her repertoire to cover photography,
video art, and installations as well. In her works, she usually deal with life seen through a woman’s eyes. Despite their usual, everyday starting points, the inner logic of the works is surprising, perhaps even dreamlike, and they are open to the viewer’s interpretations. She is trying to find the general level, in personal experiences by highlighting small events, tones and relationships that shape us without noticing. Helinä Hukkataival received the Finnish State Award for Visual Arts in 2004.
UTE RITSCHEL is a German Curator, Cultural Anthropologist and Eat Art Performer and Artist. Since 1995 curator of the biannual exhibition „Vogelfrei – Art in Privat Gardens“ in Darmstadt. Since 2002 curator of the International Forest Art Association in Darmstadt and organiser of 16 “Forest Art Path” symposiums in Germany, USA, China and Austria. Founder of the „Centre for Performance Studies“ (ZPS) and the „Centre of Art and Nature“(ZKN). Her curatorial work includes Art in Nature, Sustainable Art, Performance Art and Eat-Art-projects. Since 1999 producing “ArtTables”, a series of performative dinners, creating Food Performances and lectures, since 2014 creating Food Photography always using the idea of artistic fieldwork and mapping the terrain.
APRIL 2023
Saturday, April 15, 4:00 p.m
Luckan, Georgsgatan 27, Helsinki
Meet the Authors, ELLEN STRÖMBERG, PETER SANDSTRÖM and PHILIP TEIR.
JULY / AUGUST 2022
REVIEWS:
Pietarsaaren Sanomat July 20th 2022
Österbottens Tidning August 6th 2022
Visual artist, MARI MATHLIN, Finland/Iceland
In 2002, Mari Mathlin came to study at Swedish Polytechnics in Nykarleby. Even though she did not know Swedish language at that time. 4 years later she received a Bachelor of Culture and Arts degree in Fine Arts. Since then she has lived eleven years in Iceland, studying and working there.
In 2022 she applied for a residency at OUR AIR, and thereby got the opportunity to visit Nykarleby again. Her exhibition is called JÄR – HÄR – TÄÄLLÄ – HERE, and can be experienced at Gallery Rådhuset in Nykarleby, from August 15th until September the 10th, 2022.
Visual artist, INGRID SOLESVIK, Norway
Ingrid Solesvik is a visual artist from Stavanger, Norway. At present she is in Finland for the first time. One of her objectives when coming to Finland to take part in the Artist-in-residence OUR AIR, was to gain insight into what is happening in contemporary Nordic art today.
– she wishes to see a country new to her, with it’s landscape and cities, and to learn about it’s history and people and to meet other artists present at the Artist-in-Residency. Ingrid wishes to gather new impressions with an open mind, with the view to process these further when back home. The journey is regarded as a basis for new ideas and the sketchbook is her diary to be filled with notes, drawings and paintings.
Visual artist, ELISABET ALSOS STRAND, Norway
Elisabet Alsos Strand, from Norway, explores the universe of paper and printmaking in the form of paper making, woodblock prints and artists’ books. During her stay at OUR AIR she wants to investigate the possibilities working with wood pulp, thanks to a generous contribution from cellulose factory UPM Jakobstad / Pietarsaari.
In the garden at OUR AIR, she found an old barn. The timber logs were imprinted by time, weather and insects’ life. By covering the timber logs with sheets of paper, she could transfer the shape and texture of the old barn onto the paper. The wood became paper, and paper became wood. The circle was unbroken.
Installation artist and painter CHIA-HUI LUO, and YI TING HO, Taiwan – cancelled due to Covid pandemic
MAY 2022
Multiarts Dance Company CIE LE SIXIÈMÉTAGE from France
From left: PASCAL RENAULT, SOPHIE BOURSIER, JEFF BIZIEAU, THOMAS HOCQUET,
CARLO SCHIAVO and VÉRONIQUE HEMBERGER
www.lesixiemetage.fr/
REVIEWS:
La Strada, Body Art June 2022
Österbottens Tidning May 13th 2022
Radio Vega, Österbotten May 20th 2022
Institut Français Finlande May 5th 2022
Cie Le Sixièmétage’s Eclats Terrestres, a powerful choreographic performance that combines
dance, theatre, music, poetry, mime and visual arts.
Schaumanhall / Jakobstad, May 22nd, 2022.
2021-2022
Due to coronavirus pandemic we have not invited new artists
OCTOBER 2019
