The Saari Well

People worldwide have gathered around wells to collect water throughout the ages, and in many places, they still do. There they exchange thoughts, ideas, problems and solutions.  

The Saari Well: A metaphor for gatherings

One of the unique things about the Saari Residence is the Saari Well.  

The Saari Well is a metaphor for the shared residency experience for the Saari Fellows. The Saari Well offers an opportunity for the artists and researchers at the Saari Residence to meet each other, share ideas and generally leave their distinctive impressions on each other’s thinking, work, and on the residence itself. Although sharing at the Saari Well is often spontaneous, residence staff members strive to create favourable situations, opportunities, and events for it. 

The Saari Well is not a physical place; it comes into existence through the interaction and time the Saari Fellows share during the residency. 

Encounters at the Saari Well can lead to friendships, collaborative projects or mentoring discussions. You may even discover new ways of working or find a stronger identity as an artist. Learning about other fields of art offers broader perspectives on the work of an artist. 

Summer Well

The Saari Residence regularly organizes Summer Well events where artists and researchers gather for a day or two to discuss current issues. The objective of the discussion may be to solve a concrete problem, devise a project idea or a shared manifesto, for example. As always, the essential function of the Summer Well is to create opportunities for interaction and sharing, as well as the diversity of many perspectives. 

The Saari Well developed into a collaboration 

Saaren Kaivo is, at its best, a collaboration between artists from different starting points and art genres.

In the spring of 2022, a group of artists from different fields worked at the Saare manor, and during their residency, they created the collaborative work On a Former Island.

The project included composer and performer Pia Palme (Austria), visual artist and performer Elie Halonen and performing artist Satu Hakamäki, jazz singer Mari Zhiginas (Ukraine), performance and theatre artist Tuomas Laitinen and comic artist Siiri Viljakka. The piece, which combines music, performance, visual and video art, was performed on 26 April, 2022, at the Sibelius Museum in Turku.