Utopias Lahti Residency Open Call 2025

Utopias Lahti, ISSP and NŌUA invite artists from or based in Denmark, Latvia, Norway and Sweden for a two-month residency in Lahti, Finland as part of the IN-SITU project.

Overview

The project explores site-specific working practices and sustainable exhibition design in photographic and lens-based art. Two artists will be selected for a two months long IN-SITU residency, resulting in an exhibition at the next Utopias Lahti Festival in May 2026.

Produced in collaboration with ISSP and NŌUA, the residency program offers the possibility for artists using lens-based mediums to realise a project of their interest in dialogue with an unconventional, "non-white box" space, using it as a studio that transforms into an exhibition. 

Practical Info

The call is open for artists based in Denmark, Latvia, Norway and Sweden who are working with lens-based mediums. Utopias Lahti will secure a space for the artist according to their idea and support them in realising the project. At the end of the residency, the space will be opened up to the public in the form of an exhibition as part of Utopias Lahti 2026. They encourage artists with an interest in the built environment and space to interpret the theme broadly and use it as a platform to explore their own interests, themes and ways of working. 

The jury will select one artist who is from (or based in) Norway, Sweden or Denmark, and one artist who is from (or based in) Latvia.

The 2 selected artists will be granted a monthly artist fee of €2,200, a private room in a shared apartment for the duration of their stay, and flight-free travel costs to and from Lahti. Also, they will be a site-specific exhibition as part of the Utopias Lahti 2026 Festival with a support of the team and project and exhibition production covered by Utopias Lahti in accordance with the festival's circular economy model.

The Jury is composed of Kamilla Kūna (Co-Curator, ISSP), Dan Mariner(Co-Founder, NŌUA), Henri Airo (Artistic Director, Utopias Lahti ), and Toivo Heinimäki (Program Head for IN-SITU, Utopias Lahti)

About Utopias Lahti

Utopias Lahti is an artist-run visual arts festival organised in Lahti, Finland. The third edition of the festival will take place in May 2026. Utopias Lahti centres on artistic practices that activate speculation, conjecture, and imagination as catalysts for systemic change. The curation and development of the festival are guided by principles of sustainability and approachability. While our background as organisers is rooted in photography, the festival expands into other artistic fields as well, with an emphasis on lens-based media.

About ISSP

ISSP is a platform for contemporary photography, art and education.  Since its establishment in 2006, ISSP has annually organised the International Summer School of Photography, initiated local and international education and exchange programmes, produced exhibitions, publications and events, and, most importantly, gathered a thriving community of artists in Latvia and abroad.

About NŌUA

NŌUA is an artist-run institution for photography as contemporary art. Located in the small, up and coming culture city of Bodø in the Norwegian arctic region, NŌUA is housed in one of the few post-war architecture buildings, built in 1944-48 by architect Kristof Lange.