The OAF supports the internationalization of Finnish outsider artists and their networking with international partners! OAF is part of a wider collaboration network, the European Outsider Art Association (EOA). Internationality is one of the main themes of the Outsider Art Festival 2023, and this year OAF is organizing events where Finnish Outsider Art is presented to international partners.
In the spring of 2023, the Outsider Art Festival started an international collaboration in Paris at the Institut finlandais, cultural institute between Finland and France, as the Imagine everyday! Outsider Art Finland -exhibition. This is the first time OAF presents Finnish outsider art in Paris. The exhibition will be on display at the Institut finlandais from April 14 to July 13, 2023. The exhibition includes works by Kalevi Helvetti, Riina Noro, Satu Nekala, Johanna Konttinen, and Satu and Maria Tani. Satu & Maria Tani received the Best Artist Award at the 2022 Outsider Art Festival, which included a grant to develop the artists’ projects internationally.
The international mentor for this year’s OAF is Sofia Lanusse, Director of the Outsider Art Fair New York and Paris and is an EOA Board Member. In addition, the 2023 OAF will be visited by a team from Canada, when the staff of Canada’s first and only outsider art festival, the Vancouver Outsider Arts Festival, will arrive in Helsinki to observe our festival. The Vancouver Outsider Arts Festival has been organized since 2017.
In addition OAF’s residency program, launched last year, brings international outsider artists to Finland instead. In 2022, the artists were Marianne Schmidt and Malin Karlsson from Sweden. This year, the artists-in-residence are the American-Filipino artist duo Mirrored Fatality. Those selected as artists-in-residence will have the opportunity to work in Finland for one month and network with Finnish outsider artists and other co-creators. The works created during the residency are presented at the festival.
OAF’s internationalization this year is supported by the Ministry of Education and Culture, Frame Contemporary Art Finland and Music Finland.
picture © Lansy Siessie / L’Imagerie.
Reag more: Imagine Everyday! -exhibition & interview of Heini Merkkiniemi, OAF Residency program, Vancouver Outsider Arts Festival
