OpenCall Artist in Residence Örebro County 2023

Nora is a small rural municipality with a rich cultural heritage, famous for being one of Sweden’s best-preserved and most picturesque wooden towns. The area has a vivid cultural scene, consisting of numerous artists, craftspeople, and actors. The surrounding area of Bergslagen is historically interesting as well, being the provider of iron in the past. Mining and forging have left imprints you still can see all around the area.

The residence program in Nora will be held in close cooperation with local artists and the creation of the annual art festival named Ljusstråk. The former brewery building will comprise a collective exhibition during the Ljusstråk art festival. The invited artist is required to present in a finalizing exhibition during Ljusstråk art festival and space therefore in the brewery is provided.

Workspace and accommodation

Suitable workspace will be provided. Accommodation is offered in close connection to the studio space and will be announced later.

The host

The host is an independent art society with approximately 100 members, most of them participating in the annual Ljusstråk, an art show all over the county. The society is the network for gathering artists, and providing and endorsing workshops and meetings. Ljusstråk is sponsored by Nora municipality.

Expectations of the artist

We are happy to invite a painter, photographer, illustrator, filmmaker, ceramist, writer, or textile artist from Europa. We especially welcome a Ukrainian artist. Fairly good spoken English is preferred.

The host

The Frövifors paper mill museum is situated right next to the modern and in-use paper mill Billerud. The museum is an exciting mix of contemporary and historical environments, offering cultural events, paper art exhibitions and music concerts, as well as exhibiting the old historical methods and equipment for paper making.

Frövifors Paper mill museum is establishing as a national platform for contemporary paper art. In 2020 the museum became a member of the Nordic Museum Network for Paper Art which aims to work for the establishment of paper art and paper artists in the Nordic countries.

Expectations of the artist

The local host encourages applicants interested in working with paper as a medium and has a wish for the invited artist to create an exhibition during the second period. During the first period the host wish to cooperate with the artist in planning a week of workshops in the museum during the start of the second period. In the workshops, the host whishes that the applicant creates a piece of art, together with visitors at the museum, that will become a part of the exhibition. The museum is open for the opportunity to in this exhibition also show the artists’ previous works together with works created during the residency.

Workspace and accommodation

Studio space will be offered in the old paper mill as well as the museum hand paper workshop. The studio space is also where the workshops and exhibition will be situated. See pictures for more details.

Both the studio space and the hand paper workshop will be open as public spaces during the museum opening hours. However, both hand paper workshops and studios can be partly screened off. The applicant must be able to work in public and see it as a part of the residency.

Accommodation is presented in Lindesberg municipality. Detailed information will be presented further on.

Time frame

First period

Introduction and planning of workshop week, April 16th – 23rd

Second period

• Workshop week July 31st – August 5th
• Worktime in studio July 31st – September 9th
• Vernissage of exhibition September 9th

Örebro is one of the larger cities of Sweden, inhabiting 150000 citizens; it is the administrative center of Örebro County. Historically it has been a trading point and is best known as the “city of shoes and biscuits”.

About the host

Örebro Municipality and the OPENART Biennial are inviting artists to engage in a residency in the city of Örebro for research, with the aim to produce work for the next exhibition in the 2024 edition of the festival.

OPENART is an exhibition that takes place in the city center of Örebro every second summer. Contemporary artworks are displayed outdoors and available for public interaction day and night during the exhibition period. For each edition, the festival presents a large number of artists working in a wide variety of art mediums and techniques. The majority of the artworks are sculptures and installations but we welcome artists working in all disciplines, interested in the intersection between art and the public.

OPENART invites a broad audience to experience the exhibited art and creates an opportunity to broaden the art interest outside of the more traditional art scene as many people pass the artworks when moving through the city.

Expectations of the artist

During the residency period, we would like the artist to hold a workshop or to do a presentation of their artistic work and process aimed at the community of OPENART.

OPENART is run by a small team working in a warm-hearted manner, able to offer technical advice and some assistance during the production process in the workshop space at our facilities. As most of the projects exhibited at OPENART are of temporary character we aim to use material carefully and in a sustainable and cautious way when producing.

We require the artist to have the knowledge and be able to manage their chosen materials and production themselves. Each artist is expected to lead the technical work installing the art work in a secure and responsible way. This also includes staying within the agreed budget and deadlines set in consultation with the team.

Accommodation

Accommodation is offered in close proximity to the studio space and will be announced later.

At the office, Penny and Lucy are our furry friends (The two office Samoyed dogs) Every other week the office has yoga or meditation in the morning.

Time frame

• Research period: April 16th – 23rd 2023
• Development of Project and artist residency: August – September 2023, approx 5 weeks.
• Delivery of project as part of OPENART Festival 2024: June - September 2024

Location

Hällefors municipality has a fantastic location in the beautiful Bergslagen region, between the city and the countryside. Stockholm, Gothenburg, and Oslo can be reached in about three hours. The region’s capital Örebro is within an hour's drive by car. In Hällefors, with a population of 7000, there are several galleries, many active artists, and cultural events throughout the year. Here you have the opportunity to take care of yourself, close to nature and rich cultural history, but also the opportunity to be part of a context with creative people, exciting meetings, and inspiration.

A good residency provides a meaningful exchange between the artist and the residency, in this case the municipality and its inhabitants. We have experience with residencies, we are good at hosting, have access to studios/premises and good accommodation.

About the host

Hällefors Cultural School is the host of the residency and we offer courses for example in art, design, and ceramics for children and teenagers.

Expectations of the artist
We would like to collaborate with an artist who lives/works in a similar rural area, but it is not a requirement. As a person, we would like someone who is willing to share their experiences and through this we may be able to find a long-term collaboration. We would like the artist to hold workshops, preferably for children and teenagers, and to find cooperation with the school.

Workplace

Hällefors Cultural School is centrally located in Hällefors with its own art galleries/studios.

Accommodation

Bredsjö's old train station house located by Stora Bredsjön has been renovated by voluntary efforts and is run by Bredsjö Kulturkooperativ located 15 min drive from Hällefors

Time frame

Introduction week

April 16th – 23rd.

Work period

We have two options for the project period:

1. From June 12th to July 14th. Then our spring art galleries are available and during weeks 26-28 we run a summer cultural school where we would like to see cooperation with the artist and the children.
2. The other available project period is from August 14th to September 16th. In that case, we would like to cooperate with the school and find another studio as we are using ours.

Exhibition

The exhibition will take place in connection with the closing of the project. But we also welcome it to be shown during the #Taggad2025 cultural weekend, i.e. January 31st, 2025.