International networks in fine arts
A long-term partnership with the Saastamoinen Foundation offers international opportunities for students and alumni of Uniarts Helsinki’s Academy of Fine Arts.
Introduction
Since 2015, the collaboration between Uniarts Helsinki’s Academy of Fine Arts and the Saastamoinen Foundation has fostered dialogue between art education and the international art field, renewing Finnish fine arts education and research.
The primary goal is to deepen students’ understanding of working as international artists and to create a long-term, meaningful culture of international education in cooperation with high-level partners. An inspiring and well‑connected international community supports the central responsibility of arts education: active observation, critical thinking, and independent expression.
For 2025–2029 the international programme supported by the Saastamoinen Foundation includes artist residencies for Academy of Fine Arts alumni, a mentoring programme for recent graduates, a visiting professor programme, Keynote Lectures, and research projects in the fields of analogue image-making, materiality in fine arts, and artist pedagogy.
Alumni residencies
The 3- to 11‑month residencies offered to Academy of Fine Arts alumni support artistic work and post‑master’s studies in high‑quality residency centres.
Residency partners of the Academy of Fine Arts:
- Jan van Eyck Academie, Maastricht
- ISCP – International Studio & Curatorial Program, New York
- LIFT – Liaison of Independent Filmmakers of Toronto
- Cove Park and Scottish Sculpture Workshop, Scotland
Additionally, funding may be granted for a residency period at the Rijksakademie van Beeldende Kunsten in Amsterdam if an Academy of Fine Arts alum is selected through the Rijksakademie’s own application process.
Applications for LIFT and Jan van Eyck Academie open in spring. Applications for the Ecologies in the Making: Sculpting Futures residency in Scotland and the ISCP residency in New York open in autumn. Alumni can apply for residency grants through separate calls organised by the Academy of Fine Arts. Calls are announced primarily in the Uniarts Helsinki alumni newsletter and on the university website.
Pre‑selection for each residency is carried out by annually rotating, residency‑specific expert panels and the final selection is made by the residency organisation. Applications for the Rijksakademie programme must be sent directly via their open call. Information on previous grant recipients is available on the Saastamoinen Foundation’s website.
International mentoring programme
In this programme, internationally established artists and art professionals support recent graduates in their transition into professional artistic practice, helping them develop in an international context. Through teaching sessions, studio visits, and feedback discussions, mentees receive unique tools to reflect on their artistic work.
The programme combines group mentoring, individual guidance, and visits to key art venues in Europe. Since 2020, it has also included virtual meetings with international art experts (online studio visits). In 2026, the programme will be renewed and targeted to alumni who graduated at most two years earlier.
Previous mentors:
- 2022–2023: Curator Angela Rosenberg and visual artist Hans Rosenström
- 2024–2025: Curator Angela Rosenberg and art historian, writer, and curator Jonatan Habib Engqvist
Mentors for 2026–2027: Curator and writer Raoul Klooker and artist Tarek Lakhrissi.
Read an interview with former mentor Angela Rosenberg.
Saastamoinen Foundation Keynote
Each year, a widely recognised international figure in the arts—an artist, curator, writer, or cultural influencer—is invited to give the Keynote Lecture. The series began in 2016. Since 2022, the lecture has been held at Tanssin Talo (Dance House Helsinki) at Cable Factory, filling a 250‑seat auditorium. The lecture is recorded, subtitled, and shared on Uniarts Helsinki’s internal channels.
Past speakers:
- 2022: Artist, professor, and researcher Sonia Boyce – Oh – What Non-sense: exploring social play, improvisation and transgressions
- 2023: Philosopher Emanuele Coccia – Don’t Call Me Gaia. Notes For a Planetary Art
- 2024: Visual artist Stan Douglas – The Black Mirror or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love Photography
- 2025: Sound artist Tarek Atoui – On Improvisation
Visiting professor programme
Each year, the Academy of Fine Arts hosts numerous international visiting professors who are leading artists and art experts. Their visits enrich teaching and expand global connections. Each visiting period includes a public lecture that is open to everyone.
Past visiting professors:
- 2023: D. Graham Burnett, Kerstin Brätsch and Debo Eilers (KAYA), Ann Böttcher, Karyn Olivier
- 2022: Melissa Gordon, Nina Wakeford, Chang Geng-hwa, Timo Kelaranta
- 2021: Omer Fast, Josephine Pryde, Ruth Pelzer-Montada, Vesa-Pekka Rannikko, Alexandria Smith
Read more about the Visiting professors lecture series.
Research projects
The role of analogue image in the age of digital photography
Postdoctoral researcher Kerstin Schroedinger (recruited in spring 2024) conducts artistic research that navigates the space between analogue and digital moving images. Her long-term project Industries of Denial develops an innovative analogue process for returning digitised archival images to their material origins. The project strengthens the Academy’s profile in experimental film and photography, and new equipment acquisitions support students’ opportunities to deepen their practice in these fields.
Read more: Chromatic Noise: Mnemonic Politics and Autochrome Witnesses
Artist pedagogy
For five years, artist pedagogy research at the Academy of Fine Arts has focused on the teaching methods of artists in higher education and the development of networks. Networks such as the ARTIST/PEDAGOGY/RESEARCH special interest group within the Society for Artistic Research, the Artist Pedagogy Network, and the International Foundational Studies Teaching Network bring together researchers from various academies internationally.
Read more:
- Fine art pedagogies
- Archive of Art School Dissent
- Understandings of artistic professionalism within the Academy of Fine Arts
Materiality in art
The Academy has a strong relationship with the material and technical traditions of artmaking—traditions that are both continued and challenged through teaching and research. This new project deepens the understanding of the connections and histories between materiality and art, develops ecological material practices, and explores new ways to consider the life cycle and recycling of artistic materials.
Read more: Materiality as part of the ecological transition in the arts
Project contact information
-
Katariina Kivistö-Rahnasto
- Planning Manager, Development services Academy of Fine Arts, Academy of Fine Arts
- +358456578264
- katariina.kivisto-rahnasto@uniarts.fi
News
Project name
International networks in fine arts
Time
08/2021-06/2029
Funder
Saastamoinen Foundation
Introduction
Since 2015, the collaboration between Uniarts Helsinki’s Academy of Fine Arts and the Saastamoinen Foundation has fostered dialogue between art education and the international art field, renewing Finnish fine arts education and research.
The primary goal is to deepen students’ understanding of working as international artists and to create a long-term, meaningful culture of international education in cooperation with high-level partners. An inspiring and well‑connected international community supports the central responsibility of arts education: active observation, critical thinking, and independent expression.
For 2025–2029 the international programme supported by the Saastamoinen Foundation includes artist residencies for Academy of Fine Arts alumni, a mentoring programme for recent graduates, a visiting professor programme, Keynote Lectures, and research projects in the fields of analogue image-making, materiality in fine arts, and artist pedagogy.
Alumni residencies
The 3- to 11‑month residencies offered to Academy of Fine Arts alumni support artistic work and post‑master’s studies in high‑quality residency centres.
Residency partners of the Academy of Fine Arts:
- Jan van Eyck Academie, Maastricht
- ISCP – International Studio & Curatorial Program, New York
- LIFT – Liaison of Independent Filmmakers of Toronto
- Cove Park and Scottish Sculpture Workshop, Scotland
Additionally, funding may be granted for a residency period at the Rijksakademie van Beeldende Kunsten in Amsterdam if an Academy of Fine Arts alum is selected through the Rijksakademie’s own application process.
Applications for LIFT and Jan van Eyck Academie open in spring. Applications for the Ecologies in the Making: Sculpting Futures residency in Scotland and the ISCP residency in New York open in autumn. Alumni can apply for residency grants through separate calls organised by the Academy of Fine Arts. Calls are announced primarily in the Uniarts Helsinki alumni newsletter and on the university website.
Pre‑selection for each residency is carried out by annually rotating, residency‑specific expert panels and the final selection is made by the residency organisation. Applications for the Rijksakademie programme must be sent directly via their open call. Information on previous grant recipients is available on the Saastamoinen Foundation’s website.
International mentoring programme
In this programme, internationally established artists and art professionals support recent graduates in their transition into professional artistic practice, helping them develop in an international context. Through teaching sessions, studio visits, and feedback discussions, mentees receive unique tools to reflect on their artistic work.
The programme combines group mentoring, individual guidance, and visits to key art venues in Europe. Since 2020, it has also included virtual meetings with international art experts (online studio visits). In 2026, the programme will be renewed and targeted to alumni who graduated at most two years earlier.
Previous mentors:
- 2022–2023: Curator Angela Rosenberg and visual artist Hans Rosenström
- 2024–2025: Curator Angela Rosenberg and art historian, writer, and curator Jonatan Habib Engqvist
Mentors for 2026–2027: Curator and writer Raoul Klooker and artist Tarek Lakhrissi.
Read an interview with former mentor Angela Rosenberg.
Saastamoinen Foundation Keynote
Each year, a widely recognised international figure in the arts—an artist, curator, writer, or cultural influencer—is invited to give the Keynote Lecture. The series began in 2016. Since 2022, the lecture has been held at Tanssin Talo (Dance House Helsinki) at Cable Factory, filling a 250‑seat auditorium. The lecture is recorded, subtitled, and shared on Uniarts Helsinki’s internal channels.
Past speakers:
- 2022: Artist, professor, and researcher Sonia Boyce – Oh – What Non-sense: exploring social play, improvisation and transgressions
- 2023: Philosopher Emanuele Coccia – Don’t Call Me Gaia. Notes For a Planetary Art
- 2024: Visual artist Stan Douglas – The Black Mirror or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love Photography
- 2025: Sound artist Tarek Atoui – On Improvisation
Visiting professor programme
Each year, the Academy of Fine Arts hosts numerous international visiting professors who are leading artists and art experts. Their visits enrich teaching and expand global connections. Each visiting period includes a public lecture that is open to everyone.
Past visiting professors:
- 2023: D. Graham Burnett, Kerstin Brätsch and Debo Eilers (KAYA), Ann Böttcher, Karyn Olivier
- 2022: Melissa Gordon, Nina Wakeford, Chang Geng-hwa, Timo Kelaranta
- 2021: Omer Fast, Josephine Pryde, Ruth Pelzer-Montada, Vesa-Pekka Rannikko, Alexandria Smith
Read more about the Visiting professors lecture series.
Research projects
The role of analogue image in the age of digital photography
Postdoctoral researcher Kerstin Schroedinger (recruited in spring 2024) conducts artistic research that navigates the space between analogue and digital moving images. Her long-term project Industries of Denial develops an innovative analogue process for returning digitised archival images to their material origins. The project strengthens the Academy’s profile in experimental film and photography, and new equipment acquisitions support students’ opportunities to deepen their practice in these fields.
Read more: Chromatic Noise: Mnemonic Politics and Autochrome Witnesses
Artist pedagogy
For five years, artist pedagogy research at the Academy of Fine Arts has focused on the teaching methods of artists in higher education and the development of networks. Networks such as the ARTIST/PEDAGOGY/RESEARCH special interest group within the Society for Artistic Research, the Artist Pedagogy Network, and the International Foundational Studies Teaching Network bring together researchers from various academies internationally.
Read more:
- Fine art pedagogies
- Archive of Art School Dissent
- Understandings of artistic professionalism within the Academy of Fine Arts
Materiality in art
The Academy has a strong relationship with the material and technical traditions of artmaking—traditions that are both continued and challenged through teaching and research. This new project deepens the understanding of the connections and histories between materiality and art, develops ecological material practices, and explores new ways to consider the life cycle and recycling of artistic materials.
Read more: Materiality as part of the ecological transition in the arts
Project contact information
-
Katariina Kivistö-Rahnasto
- Planning Manager, Development services Academy of Fine Arts, Academy of Fine Arts
- +358456578264
- katariina.kivisto-rahnasto@uniarts.fi