{"id":3520,"date":"2022-06-27T12:51:24","date_gmt":"2022-06-27T09:51:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.artinres.fi\/?page_id=3520"},"modified":"2022-06-29T16:16:07","modified_gmt":"2022-06-29T13:16:07","slug":"routa-company-residency-en","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.fairenetwork.com\/en\/information-and-tools\/interviews\/routa-company-residency-en\/","title":{"rendered":"An interview with Routa Company Residency"},"content":{"rendered":"
27.6.2022<\/h5>\n
Interview: Vilma Pimenoff<\/h5>\n
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.<\/span><\/h5>\n

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\"Routa<\/a>
Routa Company residency, Hear Me Out<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

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Routa Company is a professional dance production company operating in the Generaattori premises in the center of Kajaani. The residency program offers 1-3 week long residency periods for professional dancers and groups, as well as for final year students graduating from dance and choreography programmes. Routa offers a rehearsal space and accommodation in the center of Kajaani. The residency has an all-year-round application scheme with no specific deadline.<\/span><\/p>\n

Routa Company\u2019s artistic director Jouni J\u00e4rvenp\u00e4\u00e4 says he understands the situation for graduating students, the time when one doesn\u2019t yet have the connections in the professional world. The Routa student residency has been born out of the need to support young dance professionals: \u201dIt is important to have an institution who can take the risk and offer space to let one get one\u2019s foot in the door.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Through the student residency Routa collaborates with dance schools, and it also collaborates with numerous local partners. As one of the special features of Kajaani, J\u00e4rvenp\u00e4\u00e4 mentions the city\u2019s relatively high number of cultural organizations, cultural actors, and professionals in the art field. \u201dIt is easy to find interaction here, for example if the resident artist wants to organize a demo, we can surely find audience who themselves operate in the art world; in theatre, music, and fine arts.<\/span><\/p>\n

Routa offers the resident 8-hour studio time per day from Monday to Friday, and there is no requirement to produce anything completed. In comparison to rehearsing for a specific project or working for theatre, the residency offers a possibility to work without pressure. Oftentimes residencies require a demo or a public event of some kind. J\u00e4rvenp\u00e4\u00e4 says that those are indeed excellent tools, but stresses that artists work needs to happen out of his or her own interests and needs: \u201dI don\u2019t think it\u2019s good to try to fit anything extra in the residency time that is already limited. On the contrary, we should help enable unrestricted free creation.\u201d J\u00e4rvenp\u00e4\u00e4 underlines that it is possible to apply to the residency even if one didn\u2019t have a specific project, or a performance coming up. It is important for an artist to be able take time for so called ground work, to maintain the energy that is humming inside each artist, so that one is prepared, for example, to produce a commissioned piece with a tight schedule. At Routa it is thought that the ability to work free from pressure to produce is important, and that in the heart of it lies the artists\u2019 curiosity for what is the genuine interest for him or her. Time and space should be allowed for the artist to investigate this.<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"Jukka<\/a>
Jukka Takalo & Heli-Maria Latola<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

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The residency applications are viewed with the focus on the individual\u2019s practice. It is preferred that the practice is driven by artists\u2019 personal interests, and that it is broadly thought of. Choreographic thinking and an active approach to improvisation are also seen as positive points. J\u00e4rvenp\u00e4\u00e4 clarifies that there isn\u2019t a list of keywords that should be in the application, but that every applicant is considered as an individual entity.<\/span><\/p>\n

J\u00e4rvenp\u00e4\u00e4 considers art as the most open and free form to act out one\u2019s human curiosity. There aren\u2019t predicted rules that would apply to art, and if there is, one doesn\u2019t have to obey them. Making art is not the same as working in science, you cannot fail like you could in the science context.<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"Eero<\/a>
Eero Savela & Elina Hauta-aho<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

 <\/p>\n

The Routa residency acknowledges the value of collegial interaction. Depending on the artist\u2019s preferences, this can be either artistic mentoring or conversational support, an outsider\u2019s eye in the rehearsals, or just conversation around the current topic related to the practice. Another form of interaction that Routa offers is production support. Routa\u2019s open-plan office is located in the same building with the rehearsal space, so meeting one another comes naturally. <\/span><\/p>\n

One indisputable asset of working at a residency is the networking it offers. As well as Routa gets to know the resident artists, the artists also get to know Routa. The different artists passing through the residency also influence one another through their work and the trace each one leaves at the residency, and which the next resident artist senses.<\/span><\/p>\n

J\u00e4rvenp\u00e4\u00e4 says that he is happy to keep in contact with the resident artists also after the residency is over. It is interesting to follow how the artists and their projects advance.<\/span><\/p>\n

When asked the question if there is something artistically new being born at the residency, J\u00e4rvenp\u00e4\u00e4 answers that creating new art lies in the hands of the artists, and it cannot be steered from the outside. New things come from the artists themselves and manifest in their work.<\/span><\/p>\n

Routa Company itself as a residency institution wishes to continue to develop as an organization who supports artistic freedom. One could think that it is also artistic freedom being able to determine one\u2019s working hours. With this comes the danger to exhaust oneself with continuous work. \u201cIf these kind of topics can be discussed in the residency, then I believe something is moving in the right direction\u201d, J\u00e4rvenp\u00e4\u00e4 concludes.<\/span><\/p>\n

More information: Routa Company Residency<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

27.6.2022 Interview: Vilma Pimenoff 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.     Routa Company is a…
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