Activities // Open Calls

CreArt Oulu and a non-profit organization Oulu Urban Culture are opening an open residency call for artists in the CreArt network as part of the art program production for the Frozen People festival.

Frozen People is a winter festival of electronic music and northern art in Oulu. The event is part of the Oulu2026 – European Capital of Culture program. Frozen People will be held outdoors on 1 March 2025, defying weather conditions. Traditionally, the event has been held by the frozen sea, but in 2025, the festival will exceptionally take place at a different location closer to the center of Oulu. The festival offers brutal and unique winter conditions for the world's coldest dance party and art experiences.

The goal of the residency is to create a piece as part of the official art program of the Frozen People festival, inviting artists to innovate and develop impressive installations in subarctic conditions.

The portfolio call is aimed at visual artists under 40 years old in the CreArt network. The Frozen People festival is looking for an installation suitable for the festival area that works in both daylight and darkness. The piece can combine, for example, light and media art, community and environmental art, and may also include performative elements. We hope for works that are eco-friendly and recyclable and do not leave traces in the environment after the festival ends. The festival area offers various possibilities for different works: there are walls of an old factory area, forest, open yard, beach, as well as snow and ice (depending on weather conditions)."

https://www.urbanculture.fi/frozenpeople
https://www.instagram.com/frozenpeoplefestival/
 

Overall schedule and eligible artists
The portfolio search is open from 1 December 2024 to 12 January 2025.
Artist and work selections will be made by 15 January 2024. Selected artists will be notified of the selection separately to initiate travel and accommodation arrangements. The artist and work selections are published as part of the communication of the CreArt project and the Frozen People festival. One artist from the CreArt network is selected for the residency.
The artist applying for the residency must have been born or live in one of the cities in the CreArt 3.0 network: Kaunas (Lithuania), Liepaja (Latvia), Skopje (North Macedonia), Aveiro (Portugal), Valladolid (Spain), Lublin (Poland), Venice (Italy), Clermont-Ferrand and Rouen (France), Ceske Budejovice (Czech Republic) and Regensburg (Germany).
In addition, HDLU (Croatian Association of Visual Artists) members can apply for the residency period.
Ukrainian artists apply in cooperation with Lviv Artistic Council Dialogue.

The residency period is 28 January - 4 March 2025 (six weeks) and the work will be exhibited at the Frozen People festival on 1 March 2025. The location of the artwork is selected according to the work plans, coordinated by the CreArt Oulu, located outdoors in the festival area.

Description the work plan
The work plan for the residency must include a brief description of the work to be implemented, the materials used and its technical requirements, the working process and the artistic theme of the work (max. length two A4 pages). The outdoor installation must withstand brutal winter conditions and must not pose any danger to the public. The artist applying for the residency must submit a CV and a portfolio (including work samples in a suitable file format) and a copy of the passport.

Residence fees and other costs
The residency's work plan must detail an estimate of the materials related to the work's implementation. Required materials are allocated max. €1,500. Recycled materials are preferred in the execution of the work.
The residency period in Oulu includes the artist's residency fee of €2,500/gross (the artist applies for an A1 form from their native country for payment of the 15% withholding tax), daily allowances, travel expenses from the artist's hometown to Oulu and back, and accommodation expenses in Oulu (6 weeks). Material and technical costs as well as workspace rent are included in the open call. The working spaces required by the work plan are arranged separately according to the work sites.
A cooperation agreement with the CreArt Oulu will be drawn up for the implementation of the selected work.

Selection criteria
The artworks are selected by a professional council coordinated by the CreArt project coordinator. The work plan must support the goals of the festival and the CreArt 3.0 project in general.

Portfolio delivery and application deadline
The open call deadline is Sun 12 January 2025.
Register on the intranet of the CreArt project and upload your portfolio by 12 January 2025. 
The residency work plan can also be submitted by email (zip file or link to the application materials): Project Coordinator Hanna Jakku, hanna.jakku@ouka.fi, tel. +358 50 3468 537.
For inquiries about the Frozen People: Inka Koutaniemi, inka@urbanculture.fi, p. +358 50 410 9187

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