Nordic/Baltic Residency program 2023/24 at MASSIA (Estonia)

SPROUT complements MASSIA’s self-organised open-residency model through fully funded opportunities for artists and cultural practitioners who work at the intersection of art and ecology and are based in a Nordic or a Baltic country. From September 2023 to June 2024, MASSIA will host 6 individual practitioners and 2 collectives for residencies ranging from 1-2 months, supported by the Nordic-Baltic Mobility Programme for Culture.

This call is for individual and collective proposals that relate to the specific context of MASSIA: a context in which a deep curiosity for ecology goes hand-in-hand with a commitment to experiments in self-organisation. We are looking for practitioners who have the desire and capacity to re-think and care for the reproductional sphere (that is, the sphere of human and non-human labour that maintains life for ourselves and others in shared ecologies) through their artistic practices. Diversity, pro-activity, complexity and radical experimentation are welcome, as are many other things we cannot imagine yet – so please surprise us!

Residents are invited to follow their individual working processes with the option of developing collaborative projects, reflections and research with fellow residents while immersing themselves in the multispecies ecologies that MASSIA is part of and situated within. The program facilitates opportunities to connect with local people and places through organised visits and field trips, as well as offering a platform for, and assistance with, sharing working processes with relevant communities and audiences.

The SPROUT program seeks to foster sustainable artistic working conditions. Residents are invited to co-create the structures that will support such work as well as enable the growth of a community of practice within the Nordic-Baltic region and beyond.

SPROUT will end with a gathering planned for 10-15 June 2024, during which all residents will be invited to get together for a convivial moment of practice- and knowledge-sharing and to map a common ground.

Like all MASSIA residents, participants of the SPROUT program are expected to familiarise themselves with MASSIA’s principles of self-organisation and participate in collective maintenance. For more information on MASSIA, its operating principles and facilities, see the website.

Calendar:

2023
• 2 individual residencies, 1 month each: between 1 September and 15 December
• 1 residency for a collective with up to 3 practitioners, 1 month: between 15 October – 15 December

2024
• 2 individual residencies, 1 month each: between 15 March – 15 May
• 2 individual residencies, 2 months each: between 15 March – 15 May
• 1 residency for a collective with up to 5 practitioners for 1 month: 15 May – 15 June
• Final 5-day gathering for all residents, 10-15 June 2024

The grant covers:

• Travel expenses up to 250€ per resident (per residency, as well as per attendance of final gathering)
• Accommodation and studio space
• Artist fee of €800 per month for individual residents
• Artist fee of €2100 per month for a small collective with up to 3 members
• Artist fee of €3500 per month for a medium-sized collective with up to 5 members
• Material expenses of up to 300€ for individual and 400€ for collective residencies (all fees include possible taxes)

They look for artists and cultural practitioners:
 

• From all disciplines and at any stage in their professional development.
• Who are based in a Nordic or Baltic country, other than Estonia
• Who inhabit critical, intersectional and queer perspectives on ecology, environment, sustainability, co-existence, etc.
• Whose practices may include but are not limited to Nordic and Baltic knowledge related to land, wilderness, etc.; biodiversity; stewardship of endangered biotopes; eco-socially engaged art; material practices engaging with naturecultures; practices related to food production; citizen and expert science; re-wilding; multi-species sociality/relationality, etc.
• Whose work resonates with the values and practices MASSIA cultivates (please inform yourself about these via the website).
• Who are interested in building long-term relationships with the more-than-human communities MASSIA is situated in and part of.

They especially encourage applications from practitioners who fall through common cracks of artistic residency opportunities, be it due to trans-disciplinarity, queer orientations (in work and life) or systemic disadvantage (socio-economic and geopolitical situatedness, ethnicity, care-giving responsibilities, age, gender, neurodiversity, ableism and more). The program affords a small budget for access provision. MASSIA exists in a building which is sadly not wheelchair accessible. If your access needs make you able to join despite this fact, please get in touch and they can discuss what access needs they can meet.

MASSIA respects your time and energy. They propose a variety of less prescriptive ways of responding to this call according to your capacities and preferences.

You can choose:

• an informal text about you OR a bio and CV
• an informal audio/video/multimedia format/text about your practice OR a formal motivation letter
• links to your work OR a portfolio

The way you choose to apply will not influence the selection process. This proposal is in no way intended to reward originality in the application process but rather to make it easier for people to apply. In return, we ask you to consider the time and energy of the MASSIA members who will be assessing applications when deciding on the form and length of your submission.

For the selection process they would like to get a sense of:
• who you are as a person and as a practitioner
• questions/ideas/practices you will bring with you to the residency
• how your practice relates to the thematic scope of the SPROUT program
• how the conditions offered by MASSIA and the SPROUT program would benefit you and your practice
• how you relate to the ideas and practices that MASSIA is engaged with and outlines on its website

Please send your application by 2nd July 2023 (Midnight EEST) to [email protected] with the subject line “MASSIA SPROUT_residency date of your choice”

If you have questions you can send an email with the subject line “MASSIA SPROUT_question” to [email protected].

SELECTION PROCESS:
A group of MASSIA co-organisers will make a selection of residents whose work resonate with and enter into multifaceted dialogue with one another. We hope to bring together practices that will support and inform one another, and to foster discussions and interactions between residents with different cultural, educational, and socio-economic backgrounds, identities, and ways of thinking.

This process will be guided by:
• The content of the applications
• Whether MASSIA can meet the needs of the applicants
• How applications resonate with one another
• How applications resonate with MASSIA’s values

Unfortunately, they will not be able to provide individual feedback for each application.

This program is specifically offered to practitioners based in Nordic and Baltic countries – in this case, Baltic countries other than Estonia. Please note that this does not mean you need to be a citizen of one of these countries. The places of residence which fall within the framework of this program are Åland, Denmark, the Faroe Islands, Finland, Greenland, Iceland, Latvia, Lithuania, Norway, and Sweden.

MASSIA is an artist-run, self-organised residency space in rural Estonia, inviting residents to motorize their own capacity to (co)create the desired conditions for creating work and producing knowledge. Alongside developing their own practice, residents are invited to participate in collective practices, exchange and collaboration. The conceptual as well as structural conditions prevailing at MASSIA make it possible for generative conviviality among residents.

MASSIA is open for self-directed residencies – at low cost, without a selection process or the pressure to produce outcomes – all year round, and can host up to 40 residents at any one time. SPROUT residents are invited to continue using MASSIA as a project- and residency space after the end of their program, enabling the growth of structures, including networks and multispecies constellations, for long-term collaboration. Residents are also welcome to participate in the collective organisation of MASSIA.

MASSIA is based in the Estonian countryside near the Baltic Sea, about 180 km south of Tallinn and 140 km north of Riga, Latvia. The residency is situated in a heritage school building in a small village surrounded by forests, fields and wetlands. Nigula, one of Estonia’s oldest bog reserves, starts 5km away. In Kabli, 12 kilometres to the west, you will find the long sandy beaches of the Baltic Sea.

The building is surrounded by 2 hectares of garden offering the possibility to engage with natureculture practices. The nearby forests attract mushroom pickers and plant foragers throughout the year. MASSIA also maintains a herb laboratory with an extensive medicinal herb collection and library which are open for study and experimentation.

Residents are welcome to bring their families. How much space MASSIA can offer for this will depend on the particular residency period you apply for. We ask that you inquire with us in advance. The program has a small budget reserved for residents bringing their children. Any other person you wish to bring along is welcome to stay at the regular conditions MASSIA offers.

MASSIA is home to Dandylion the cat, who doesn’t accept non-human others within what they consider their territory. Residents therefore cannot bring their animal relatives with them to MASSIA.