Deadline: Sunday 16 March 2025 (11:59 pm, GMT +3).

Helsinki International Curatorial Programme (HICP) offers one-month residencies for contemporary art curators. The programme is co-organised by Frame and HIAP – Helsinki International Artist Programme.

The residencies will be four weeks long, and take place within the following dates:

19 August – 19 September 2025
23 September – 24 October 2025

The HICP curators-in-residence will live and work at HIAP’s international residency site on the island of Suomenlinna, a 15-minute ferry ride away from the centre of Helsinki. The selected curators are offered a combined workspace and accommodation, a 1200 € working grant and a travel allowance from and to the curator’s place of residence.

Both HIAP and Frame provide the curators with individual assistance and networking support tailored to their project or research. The HICP curators are part of the international residency community at HIAP, while Frame provides contacts with extensive networks of Finnish artists and other art professionals.

The aims of the programme are

• To allow internationally active, professional curators the chance to connect with the Finnish contemporary art field and plan projects (exhibitions, public events, publications, or others) in collaboration with artists and partner organisations operating in Finland.

• To support curatorial research in its diverse and emergent forms.

From this open call we can grant two residencies for one month each. 

You can read reflections from two previous HICP Curators in Residence here:

Kevin Bellò Reflections from the Helsinki International Curatorial Programme

Malena Souto Arena “The Sense of Utopias”

APPLICATION GUIDELINES

The applicant should have at least 2–3 years of professional experience in curating (formal education is not obligatory), either within an institutional context or independently.

Applications are sent by using the online application form. Applications or supporting material sent by e-mail without using the online application form will not be taken into consideration.

In the application form, you will be asked to fill in the following:

• Your short biography and a short statement about your curatorial interests, supported by visuals (preferably) and other material documenting your previous activities

• Motivation letter for the residency

The selected residents will be notified by the end of March 2025.

The deadline for applications is Sunday 16 March 2025 (11:59 pm, GMT +3).

SELECTION CRITERIA

The selections will be made by a jury consisting of local artists and art professionals, including representatives of Frame and HIAP. 

The jury will evaluate the applications based on the following criteria:

• Motivation: does the applicant make a strong argument as to why they want to undertake the residency? 
• Relevance: would the residency have a potentially meaningful impact on the local art scene? 
• Topicality: does the focus of the proposal resonate well with topical issues?
• Diversity: does the applicant consider diversity within their practice and / or how would they contribute to the diversity of the HICP programme in terms of practice and lived experience. 
• Quality: is the applicant’s curatorial practice of quality? Quality will be assessed across multiple areas including relevancy, originality and distinctiveness, rigour, presentation, vision and impactfulness.

The final selection will be made based on the highest scoring applicants against the above criteria, and balance across the HICP programme. Please note that due to the volume of applications we receive, we are unable to provide tailored feedback. 

INCLUSION, DIVERSITY AND ACCESS

People from the global majority*, who are LGBTQIA+, disabled** and/or from working class or low socio economic backgrounds are particularly encouraged to apply.

*Global majority is a collective term for people of Indigenous, African, Asian or Latin American descent. 

**This includes but is not limited to those who define as disabled people, as people with long term health conditions, as deaf, Deaf, neurodivergent or in relation to their health-related access requirements.

Information about the accessibility of HIAP Suomenlinna residency apartments is available here. Please note there is no additional access budget available. If you would like any further information about accessibility, or would like to discuss your access requirements in advance of making an application, please contact office@hiap.fi. 

Within the form there is a dedicated section where you can include information about your access requirements. You can also choose to upload an Access Rider separately. This will not be included in the jury process and will be treated with strict confidence. You do not have to declare your access requirements in advance of making the application should you prefer not to and there will be further opportunity to share this following selection. 

Unfortunately information about this Open Call is not currently available in other formats such as large print, International Sign Language or audio formats – we hope this will change in the future. If this is a barrier for you, please contact us on email at office@hiap.fi and we will do our best to support you.