Saari Residence 2027, eldest Oyster

There’s something I can’t talk about yet so I shall talk about something else.

Yesterday I saw a post on Twitter (@Timmysofine) about a residency that sounded appealing:

Finland is offering artists up to €3,800/month to slow down and just make work.

No exhibitions required, no performances. Just you, a quiet countryside residence, and two uninterrupted months.

The Saari Residence 2027 is open to artists, writers, poets, translators, composers and curators of all nationalities. Collective applications (up to 10 people) are also welcome.

Deadline is 31 March 2026 and it’s free to apply. Full details on https://koneensaatio.fi/en/saari-residence/

It sounded appealing as described, but, well, not to be too much the tired cynic, I clicked on the link thinking it sounded too good to be true.

I find: At the Saari Residence, artists and researchers can focus on their work and share their thoughts and experiences with colleagues. Ah.

Each apartment and workspace has wired internet Ethernet (LAN) access (fibre optic). There is no wireless network (Wi-Fi) at the Saari Residence.

That sounds good; in fact, I see now that I should have set up an autoreply last month claiming to be at a similar residence with no access to wi-fi. Too late now.

Reading right along, I find (and I wish I could say I was surprised):

The Saari Residence also gives artists a platform to meet each other and share their thoughts and ideas […]

The weekly routines of the residency include, for example, joint meetings at the beginning of the week, where each resident, in turn, presents their work and receives and gives affirmative feedback. In addition, the residents meet with the staff almost every week for lunch.

The horror. To be fair, it is my informant on Twitter, not Saari, who claimed the residency offered two uninterrupted months.

They go on to say

During the individual residency period, the Residence organises events on topics such as ecology and sustainability, and the possibility of participating in the community artists’ workshops.

Silver lining: Participation in events organised by the Residence is voluntary.

I’m sure the intentions are good - they always are - but talking about work in progress to a lay audience is very bad for it, and marshalling a social self to be friendly and encouraging takes a staggering amount of energy. I once wrote a piece for Frieze in which I mentioned Horowitz, and the editor insisted on expanding this to ‘renowned pianist Vladimir Horowitz’ or something along those lines. It’s bad to write with the spectre of renowned pianist Vladimir Horowitz at one’s shoulder, or rather, I suppose, that of a helpful critic encouraging one to follow the example of Dan Brown.

I once had a residency at MacDowell, which had ‘family-style’ dinners (in my family I was allowed to read at the table, but this was not what was meant). There was also the opportunity for residents to share their work. One night a composer played a recording of part of a symphony; an Iranian film-maker asked why he had chosen to eschew melody, and the composer said he thought the piece was in fact quite melodic, and the film-maker said he thought it was possible to ask this as a genuine question, among friends. (At MacDowell! Founded by renowned composer Edward MacDowell!) Of course, it is not a shortcoming in an artist not to be knowledgeable about some completely different branch of the arts, but surely it is an occupational hazard of the modern composer to deal with uncomprehending, uninformed members of the public - a residency would hardly add to its appeal by offering this as a rare treat.

Luckily, anyway, you were allowed to sign out of dinner, and you were not required either to present your work or attend presentations, so I avoided both. Other residents said to me privately that they found the constant social interactions exhausting, or that it meant a lot to see that you could simply focus on the work. But you did need to make more of an effort to clear mental space for work, you had to defy more social expectations, than you would simply staying at home - it was only an escape for me because I was on the run from a stalker. Never again.

The eldest Oyster looked at him,

But never a word he said:

The eldest Oyster winked his eye,

And shook his heavy head —

Meaning to say he did not choose

To leave the oyster-bed.

That being said, there may be writers and artists who have not instantly imagined and longed for a residency conforming to the stereotype of Finland. It’s said that if there is another human being within 50 km a Finn feels it’s too crowded - this is stigmatised in other cultures, but I did think a Finnish organisation might be different. Apparently not. But for those for whom this isn’t a problem, they cover travel expenses and offer accommodation and a monthly grant: €2700 early career, €3200 mid-career (min. 10 years artistic experience), €3800 experienced artist (min. 20 years artistic experience). More here.