27.6.2022
Interview: Vilma Pimenoff
Images: Hannele Kolsio
The article is part of a series of interviews which presents various Finnish residency providers and examines the role of residencies in the field of art and in the society.
On the west coast of Finland in the town of Rauma, RaumArs is an artist residency specializing in community art. As one of the oldest artist residencies in Finland it’s celebrating its 25th anniversary this year. Art produced at the residency tends to focus on the theme of humanity, examining both the uniqueness of every individual as well as the things we all share in common, says residency director Hannele Kolsio.
The most important criteria for artists applying to the residency is the project they propose to undertake. It’s important that artists’ projects are achievable and financially viable. While RaumArs focuses on community-engaged and environmental art, they accept artists of any age and nationality, working in any medium or art form. Artists are selected through an annual open call. The two bedrooms of the residency apartment can house 2 to 4 artists at a time. Resident artists don’t need to have previous experience in teaching or leading workshops.
RaumArs has been uniting artists and local organisations for many years and has a long list of established collaborators in the Rauma region. Sometimes organisations contact RaumArs looking for an artist to collaborate with on a specific project. When necessary, partners are invited to help choose the resident artists, to ensure a good fit.
Art created at RaumArs has been seen and experienced in a wide variety of places: in the parking lot of a supermarket, at the market square, in the underpass, in the swimming hall, in a garden centre, in a ship, in a factory canteen, in the cemetery, in the library, in the museum, in the bank, at the herring market. Community-engaged art projects have been carried out in places like schools and nursing homes, and artists have worked with all kinds of people, from gymnasts to job seekers to people without homes. Sometimes the audience for community art is the whole town, sometimes a smaller group of people who have themselves been involved in an art project.
Process is important in community-engaged art, and the end result is not always possible to determine in advance. The residency trusts the artists and their expertise to carry each project through to its conclusion. This should also assure the institutions who support and finance the collaborative work, says Kolsio. The professionalism and creativity of the artist can be seen also in their ability to change their original plans if circumstances call for it.
Kolsio says that visual artists’ expertise should be taken into account more when planning and designing public spaces such as hospitals and schools, and that their opinions should be heard in municipal-level decision making.
The human experience, equity, and the relationship between human and nature are themes in much community-engaged art. As an example, Kolsio mentions Andrzej Tarasiuk, an artist working at RaumArs in the spring of 2022. His project ‘Mechanical trees’ explores the idea of replacing nature with machines, demonstrating the futility of such an idea and the irreplaceability of nature. The artist’s mechanical trees don’t predict the future, but the intention is to question the relationship between humankind and the environment, and consider what kind of future are we creating with our actions.
“What if the artists applying for residencies are the ones who want to create impact not by shocking but by gentle encounters?” asks Kolsio. “Being critical is different than shocking, and critical art can also mean subtle and persistent influencing.” Kolsio says that courage and pioneering are some of the inherent qualities that she sees in many artists she has met at RaumArs.
More information: RaumArs
