CPR 2023: RPN brings up to 8 international curators to Finland, Norway, and Sweden in August - September 2023 to research the regional art scene with the ambition to get a better understanding of the complex history and current political situation in the Nordics.

The Curatorial Program for Research has facilitated an international network of curators, artists and institutions since 2015. CPR 2023: RPN is a 4-week intensive curatorial research residency that will invite up to 8 international curators in August-September 2023 to visit Finland, Norway, and Sweden. The fully-funded fellowships allow curators to participate regardless of financial ability and, coupled with the open call, promotes equal access to knowledge and international networks.

CPR 2023: RPN is CPR’s eight research program for curators. Since our launch in 2015, CPR has expanded its reach with a new exhibition space in New York and residencies for Nordic artists in Buenos Aires and New York. CPR has funded over 80 artist and curatorial fellowships and has worked towards the representation of underserved artistic communities worldwide.

The open call and programming is organized by CPR Founding Director Carmen Ferreyra; Europe Director Susanne Ewerlöf; CPR2 Curator Natalia Viera Salgado with key local specialists: Ruben Steinum (Director, Office for Contemporary Art, Norway), Lena Malm (Head of IASPIS Visual Arts Program), and Ludvig Sjödin (Manager, Visual Artist Support Center, Norrbotten, Sweden), Ina Otzko (visual artist, Norway) and Jet Pascua (visual artist, Norway.)

Through the expertise of key local collaborators, and complemented by readings about local socio-political history, curators will partake in a conceptually connected program of visits to artist studios and art institutions - an immersive introduction to the artistic practice, production, and dissemination in the host locations and an opportunity to connect with peers.

The theme of the program is the complex issue of colonial history and present reality in the North today intertwined with aspects of sustainability and ecology. We will move towards an understanding of these issues together with artists working around these notions including indigenous and immigrant representation.

Curators also give back to the visited communities by giving public presentations about the work they are conducting in their home environment and by engaging in critical conversations with hosts and artists in the places we visit. The conversations that start as formal or informal chats during our program lead to actual collaborations within the next few years. Relationships formed during CPR 2022: Back to the North! resulted in three artists being invited to international exhibitions within six months of the program.

In line with our ambition to support curators and artists in our network we aim to invite one or more curators to make projects born from meetings and experiences during CPR 2023: (Re)Presentation in the Nordics at our recently open project space in NYC during 2024. All details regarding this will be announced following the completion of the program in the Fall of 2023.

The basis of our organization is strong partnerships. CPR grows organically through a continuously expanding network of art practitioners, which results in an organization that keeps on developing its international reach.

Building on our seven years of experience and networking, our 2023 program will continue to work towards Nordic collaboration and representation abroad.

This project is realized with generous support from The Nordic Culture Fund, The Royal Norwegian Consulate General in New York, Royal Norwegian Embassy in Beijing, Frame Finland, The Finnish Cultural Institute in New York, The Finnish Cultural Institute in London, The Office for Contemporary Art, Norway,  IASPIS, the Swedish Arts Grants Committee's International Programme for Visual and Applied Arts, and the Visual Artists Support Center, Norrbotten, Sweden.

It is with humility and respect that we bring international curators to Sapmí with the hope to get a deeper understanding of the complex history of the places we visit and how it relates to larger issues such as colonization, modernization and globalization. We hope to access this through the work of the artists we meet and the research we do collectively on site in each locality. Our local hosts, being experts on these matters, will share literature with the curators to provide further context. Discussions will be encouraged during formal and informal sessions throughout the program and the participants will be expected to provide knowledge based on their own experiences and expertise as well.

The morning sessions will consist of lectures with scholars, community members and other people while afternoons will typically include visits to artists and art institutions ideally with certain topics steering the conversation during one whole day, while others are continuous threads that will reoccur as the program progresses. Minority representation is a topic that we believe curators can share knowledge on based on their professional and personal experiences while hosts and artists can expand that notion to the specific situation on these sites.

Participating curators are not expected to have a previous understanding of the local history of the sites we visit but they are selected based on their interest in the culture of this region including problematic aspects of the history of the Nordic countries and the political issues that are affecting people and non-humans in this geography today. We welcome applicants who already immerse themselves in issues such as the environment, equality, migration, dis-placement, decolonization and indigenous knowledge.

We are eager to hear also the under-represented voices of these places and will engage Sami artists, researchers and activists as well as other minorities.

While our program focuses on connecting, educating and training a core group of up to 8 international curators with the local Nordic art scene, the relationship is twofold and in each of our programs, curators privately meet with a minimum of twenty artists per visited city, thus exponentially growing the opportunities for international exposure in the future.

In addition, curators will conduct at least one public presentation per visited country. This ensures that our programs are reachable by a wider audience, and while highly fine-tune production takes place prior to each encounter, we offer a space for spontaneous meetings and relationships to arise. We also create more informal meeting settings by fostering after program meetings at art galleries and artist homes where the personal perspective takes precedence over the professional connection. This ensures more prosperous and long term relationships between local artists and international curators.

SELECTED CURATORS