Suomen Viron-instituutin säätiö

(Re)configuring Territories

Taiteellinen työ / siihen pohjautuva työ | Kaksivuotinen

(Re)configuring Territories is a unique residency and artistic research program for emerging artists, designers, architects, programmers and urban planners in 2020–2021. Kaisa Karvinen and Tommi Vasko will curate and facilitate the program with Finnish Institute in Estonia and Estonian Art Academy’s Narva Art Residency, in Narva, eastern Estonia. The program has three intersecting iterations annually: 1) live action role-play 2) residency period and 3) spring school which bring together diverse artists from different countries and disciplines. We will make a publication and final exhibition in 2021. Our vision is to break boundaries: to revolutionize city planning and design practices, to encourage fearless design and critical thinking. Radical change can be reached only through experimental, emancipatory and collective methods we use. We are driven to develop tools for artists’ professional growth and by the fact that in places like Narva you can see in practice how art can be a changemaker. This is a great chance for a Finnish-lead initiative to become a forerunner. We open up speculative futures for long overlooked post-industrial areas in the Baltic Sea region. Narva is a fruitful base for us as it has many hidden layers, clashing narratives and hybrid identities, on the fringes of the EU and at the Russian border. The project builds new international collaborations and strengthens the discussion between foreign artists and locals in Narva.