Curating.info

Helsinki International Curatorial Programme organised by HIAP - Helsinki International Artist-in-residence Programme and FRAME Finnish Fund for Art Exchange currently offers curatorial residencies in Helsinki for international visual arts curators.

The aim of the programme is to provide curators with an opportunity to carry out research on Finnish fine art, to build contacts with Finnish art practitioners and cultural organisations and to develop international curatorial projects involving Finnish participants.

The programme is open to curators worldwide with professional experience in organising visual arts projects.

Curatorial residencies include the cost of travel to and from Helsinki with a grant for living expenses, studio accommodation, residency services and administrative support. Practical assistance for the participant's curatorial project are provided by HIAP and FRAME. A small public event (e.g. workshop, lecture, open meeting) will also be organised during the residency. The curator will have access to an extensive collection of Finnish artist portfolios at the FRAME office.

The length of the curatorial residency is usually one calendar month.

APPLICATIONS:
Applications are accepted throughout the year. The jury reviewing the applications meets at least twice a year. Applications should be sent by November 1st or May 1st to qualify for review at the following meeting.

Applications should include presentation materials of the applicant's previous projects, a curriculum vitae, a working plan for the residency period and a proposal for a public event to be organised during the residency.

Applications should be submitted by post. Please note that all electronic material should be compatible with Mac computers and readable by common office software. Application materials are not returned.

Applications should be addressed to:
Curatorial Residencies
HIAP - Helsinki International Artist Programme
Cable Factory
Tallberginkatu 1 C 97, 4th floor
FIN-00180 Helsinki
FINLAND

www.hiap.fi

Professor of Practice position in curating and mediating art
Aalto University is a new university created from the merger of the Helsinki School of Economics, the University of Art and Design Helsinki and Helsinki University of Technology. The new university's ambitious goal is to rank among the top universities in the world in its areas of specialization. The combination of three universities opens up new possibilities for strong multi-disciplinary education and research.

The goal of the Aalto University School of Art and Design is to be a dynamic, international school that promotes the development of creative fields, the regeneration of Finnish culture and artistic education and furthers innovation-based business that supports sustainable development. The School cooperates actively with industry, the cultural sector and the surrounding society and forms networks with the best international universities and centers of expertise in order to realize its goals. The teaching and research of the School of Art and Design focus on design, media, art education, visual culture and audio-visual presentation. The Aalto University School of Art and Design has approximately 1900 students and 450 staff.

Aalto University School of Art and Design invites applications for:

PROFESSOR OF PRACTICE POSITION IN CURATING AND MEDIATING ART
The Aalto Professor of Practice system is intended especially for the field of art, design and architecture. The Professor of Practice position provides departments with the possibility to hire highly respected professionals opening new areas of teaching and research / artistic and professional work. The position also provides possibility for re-evaluation and dynamic development of the field. The candidate will be appointed for a fixed 5-year term.

The Professor of Practice is considered a professorial position with Aalto-level requirements and external evaluation. A doctoral degree or comparable artistic qualifications and significant expertise in teaching and/or research/artistic and professional work are required for obtaining a Professor of Practice position. Furthermore, Professors of Practice are required to be committed to developing the field through research/artistic and professional work and teaching activities.

The above mentioned position is located in the Department of Art (http://www.taik.fi/en/laitokset/taide.html). The department consists of four different training programs, which are 1) Art Education, areas of specialization: Art Education, Curating, Managing and Mediating Art, 2) Environmental Art, 3) ePedagogy Design, and 4) Fine arts. The Department of Art is an internationally acknowledged education and research unit.

The now open professorial position is the first of its kind in Finland. Therefore preference will be given to candidates with a strong ambition for creating a new kind of degree program and educating students to participate open-mindedly in the field of arts.

APPLICATION MATERIALS AND APPLICATION PROCEDURE
The application materials for the Professor of Practice position should include the following appendices:

Application letter addressed to the President of Aalto University
Curriculum vitae
List of publications and other works (the most important ones marked)/a list of activity in the field of art or art education
Brief description of your views regarding the future development of the field.
All application materials should be in English.

For additional information, please contact Head of Department, Professor Helena Sederholm, tel. +358 50 314 1546, e-mail: helena.sederholm -at- aalto.fi, or Leader of the Cumma program, Lecturer Riikka Haapalainen, tel. +358 40 5235544, e-mail: riikka.haapalainen -at- aalto.fi.

The language requirements for applicants are described in more detail in the application instructions.

Aalto University follows the new salary system of universities, but applicants may also provide salary requirements.

Please find detailed application instructions attached.

The applications for the Professor of Practice positions are to be addressed to the President of Aalto University and submitted to the Registry of Aalto University preferably by e-mail to rekry-taik -at- aalto.fi no later than on 8th March 2011. The street address of the Registry is Hämeentie 135 C, Helsinki (Registry closes at 3.00 p.m.), and the postal address is Aalto University, P.O.Box 31000, FI-00076 Aalto. For details on submitting the application electronically, please see the attached application instructions.

Should there be a lack of eligible applicants, the application period may be extended. Aalto University reserves the right to consider also other candidates for the professorial positions.

The application materials will not be returned.

For more information: http://www.aalto.fi/en/current/jobs/professors/professor_of_practice_position_in_curating_and_mediating_art/

IKT, the International Association of Curators of Contemporary Art, held its annual congress in Helsinki and Tallinn from 23-26 April 2009.

IKT members from all over the world congregated in Helsinki and Tallinn for four days of intense activity. The congress participants visited Kiasma, the Ateneum, EMMA, Helsinki City Art Museum, Forum Box, the Cable Factory, FRAME, KUMU, and many more venues that were part of an optional gallery crawl on the first evening. The initial period of the Congress was spent in the beautiful Finnish capital, and was punctuated by a conference on the subject of "belonging and un-belonging". The Congress also travelled to Tallinn, taking in the Ars Fennica Award exhibition at KUMU, enjoying a lunch and continuation of the conference with presentations and a screening of "Monolith" by Kristina Norman (who represented Estonia at the Venice Biennale this year). After wrapping up with the annual General Assembly back in Helsinki at Kiasma, optional post-Congress activities began, composed of studio tours themed around media art, photography, and painting.

The conference programme featured papers from T.J. Demos, Kati Kivinen, Solvita Krese, Suzana Milevska, and Kristina Norman. The theme of "belonging and un-belonging" took many twists and turns: political, aesthetic, comical, academic. Perhaps the strongest response was generated in reaction to Kristina Norman's video, "Monolith", which depicted the relocation, by the Estonian government, of the statue of the Bronze Soldier from a very central location in Tallinn to a military cemetery a few kilometers away (which IKT members visited during our time in Tallinn!). The statue, which is a political firebrand, and its relocation caused passionate reactions in both the Estonian community and the local Russian community. Norman's work portrayed the situation with some humour (one sequence depicted the statue hurtling through outer space) and with distance: both the Estonians and the Russians were portrayed "equally badly" (paraphrasing here) in the quasi-documentary. This tension over this statue and what it represents meshed well with Solvita Krese's discussion of public art and monuments, highlighting the power of symbols in the public realm and their placement. The question then, of these symbols and their placement, and the work of artists and curators to create and situate these symbols, creates more questions in one's mind than answers, but proved to be an excellent frame for discussions around a subject as expansive as "belonging and un-belonging".

Aside from seeing a lot of interesting artwork, taking part in debates, and meeting new colleagues, there were several special moments. A very interesting whistlestop tour through several artists' studios at the Cable Factory culminated in a lovely dinner, lots of prosecco, and performances. I love Helsinki as a city, and savoured many personal moments, such as picking up a pastry at the Hakaniemi Market, trying to follow along with Finnish karaoke taking place at a local bar, and enjoying a dish of vorschmack at Cella with new and old friends. Of course it wouldn't be a logistically challenging trip involving hundreds of people without a surreal moment or two when difficulties arise. For example, a bit of confusion as some members were attempting to purchase tickets for the ferry to Tallinn was devolving into complete chaos until IKT Board Member Maria Lind magically appeared, gently commandeered the situation, and whisked us off to an quieter ferry terminal where departing ferries were miraculously quicker and cheaper. We had some lemons, and Maria made us some lemonade!

At the General Assembly, the board presented the financial situation of the past year and some discussions were had around future Congress locations, as well as requirements for members and the evolution of the IKT website. The IKT archive project is still ongoing (notably, a PhD student who is doing her dissertation on the history of IKT has been able to assist in this effort) and the board will continue to develop the archive into a real resource for the members and other researchers.

All in all, it was a wonderful opportunity to meet and interact with curators from around the globe, and the IKT membership looks forward to Athens next year, and Luxembourg and Metz the following year.

You can view my photos from the Congress here.

I attended this Congress because of the generous assistance of the Canada Council for the Arts.

The Helsinki International Curatorial Programme currently offers curatorial residencies in Helsinki for international visual arts curators. The aim of the programme is to provide curators with an opportunity to carry out research on Finnish fine art, to build contacts with Finnish art practitioners and cultural organisations and to develop international curatorial projects involving Finnish participants. The programme is open to curators worldwide with professional experience in organising visual arts projects.

Curatorial residencies include the cost of travel to and from Helsinki with a grant for living expenses provided by FRAME, studio accommodation and residency services provided by HIAP and administrative support and practical assistance for the participant's curatorial project provided jointly by FRAME and HIAP. A small public event (workshop, lecture, open meeting, etc) will also be organized during the residency. The length of the curatorial residency is usually one calendar month.

Applications are accepted throughout the year. The jury reviewing the applications meets at least twice a year. Applications should be received by May 1st or November 1st to qualify for review at the following meeting. Next deadline: 1 May 2008.

Further information on the HIAP website.