AREFS taide ja kulttuuri ry
AREFS art and culture association



  • Savon Radan ryhmä organizes activities along the historical Savo line






ARTIST-IN-RESIDENCE

AREFS is planning to start with the new artist-in-residence program in summer 2014.

AREF taide ja kulttuuri will start with an experimental artist-in-residence in the rural environment of eastern Finland after the reorganization.
The new residency is located in Hiirola, 15 kilometers north of Mikkeli. In the old railway station one artist at the time will be invited to stay, work and contribute with their work to the community of Hiirola.
The new program's name is: AiR-THE NEXT STATION.
 

Cully Renwick - USA - 2006

Jolanda Schouten - the Netherlands - 2006

THE RESIDENCE FOR ARTISTS
Already in the past artists were traveling to other countries, cultures and cities to find new experiences, another way of living, special facilities or materials, to meet other artists. In the diaries of many artists we can read about their travels and staying. Many art works are the result of this exchange by leaving the own atelier.

Not all artists are interested leaving their home town to have these kind of experiences, it is the artist who decides to travel.
It is also the artist who decides where to go, the country, the city, the country side, the mountains, the dessert or what place he/she needs for the own artistic work.
An artist is and has to be free to choose his/her own route.

Residences are located all over the world.
In metropolis like New York, Paris, Berlin, Tokyo etc.
In cities with special facilities like technology, ceramic, design, printing, etc.
In different landscapes and climates like the mountains in Canada, the ice landscape in Alaska, the rain forests in Brazil, the desert in Australia, etc.

Residences are offering different programs from complete free to a planned theme.

Residences are also founded in different ways like by foundations, governmental organizations, private groups and organizations, and by (art) companies etc.

Residences are financed in different ways from complete support by foundations and governmental organizations to private persons and companies. It depends on the structure of the residence what an artists has to contribute for a stay in the residence.

Residences can have different facilities from complete equipped rooms and workspaces to a simple place to stay. From an huge organization to a single person running the residence.

This complete divers world of residences makes it possible that any artist can find the ultimate place to stay, from the middle of nowhere to the centre of the metropolis, from the top of the mountain to a lonely place in an ice landscape.

It is only the artist who can choose the best place for the moment and the artist has to realize that there is no general 'quality' label to categorize the residences.

Jean-Christophe Piette - France - 2008

Pedro Riva - Argentina - 2010

A CHALLENGING RESIDENCE IN THE RURAL AREA OF FINLAND (this is closed in 2011)
The Dutch artist Marja de Jong has started art centre Saksala ArtRadius, a private residence in the Eastern part of Finland with the idea to offer artists a place to stay in an area with space, light, nature, peace and possibilities to concentrate.
The basic idea is that artists have their own program and need to have space to work, to meet other artists and if wanted the people living in the neighborhood of the art centre.
There are many artists interested in the way people are living in the country side, how they live with nature, climate and the extreme light and darkness.
Artists living in cities are very interested in this part of the society.

Art centre Saksala ArtRadius is a unique art centre and there is a personal view on artist-in-residence. Marja de Jong is an artist herself and she wants to share her experiences with other artists staying in the art centre. From the beginning impressed by the landscape, the light and the possibilities in this area she is creating an exiting environment for different kind of artists, different kind of art events and different kind of art programs.
Every interested artist can take part in this project. Together with the artists the residence can develop and grow.

The location in Haukivuori has been closed and after the reorganization the program will start on another location.

Gerlinde Miesenboeck - Austria - 2009

Ilse van den Berk - the Netherlands - 2010

COOPERATION
The art centre cooperates with different kind of organizations, persons, groups, local and regional governments, companies. From the start in the end of 2005 the contacts are built up and still growing.

ARTIST'S CHOICE
The art centre is in the country side and it can give special experiences, and for many artists an opportunity to see the basic way of living.
Living in the country side is different from living in cities, and in Finland there are no metropolis at all, and an artist who wants to have all the facilities and advantage of urban life does not apply to this art centre, even not to Finland, but will have to look for a residence in New York, Berlin or Tokyo.

ArtRadius Saksala is specialized that an artist can focus on the development of an own project, doing artistic research and being inspired by the huge art library. All in an environment where is no entertaining, no night-live, but only nature, a small village and interested people. AREFS taide ja kulttuuri ry has the intention to increase the quality of the cultural and artistic development of the region by supporting facilities for artist to undergo the creative ambiance in the nature heritage Saksalanharju.

Melanie Fitzmaurice - Australia - 2011

Miyuki Kido - Japan - 2008



 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

©2009 AREFS taide ja kulttuuri ry, Finland. All rights reserved.
No reproduction by any means or in any language without prior permission of the author.