M-Cult's new residencies
M-Cult launches a residency apartment and three new international collaborations for Autumn 2026 and Spring 2027
M-Cult is happy to launch its residency apartment and new residency initiatives for Autumn 2026.
The apartment, in the Vallila neighbourhood of Helsinki, was a gift from M-Cult’s former director Minna Tarkka in 2023, and we are now happy to make it publicly available now to artists, researchers, curators and other cultural workers. It has one room, a kitchen and a bathroom.
In the future we will use the residency apartment in multiple ways:
We organise residencies within M-Cult's different programming strands and support artists' research and production.
We run exchange residency initiatives with international partners.
M-Cult's members can use the apartment for their working periods in Helsinki or for their collaborators.
The residency is also made available to other organisations, initiatives, and individuals who need to stay in Helsinki, at below-market rent.
Alongside launching the apartment, we are also excited to announce three upcoming residency collaborations for 2026. All collaborations support artists working in the intersecting fields of art, media, and technology, and highlight socially and politically focused artistic practices that connect local communities to global concerns.
Helsinki–London – Recoding Realities
In a collaboration with arebyte Digital Art Centre and the Finnish Cultural Institute in the UK and Ireland, M-Cult is launching an open call for a Finnish or Finland-based artist to spend October 2026 in residence in London.
Residency supports artistic practice as reimagining more equitable worlds where humans have agency over technology and outwardly connect with and care for their environments. Humanity is heading towards planetary collapse with social, political, economical and ecological crises arising across the globe. Scenarios of dystopian futures are increasingly materialising. The images and information we consume online today make us more prone to “imagine the end of the world than the end of capitalism”. In times like these, how can people reorganise into more sustainable ways of living? What can humans learn from alternative ways of existing? How can individuals achieve technological agency?
Helsinki–Hsinchu – In between: Wetland and Park Forest
The collaboration with Accton Art Foundation and Art Site of Railway Warehouse and Zone Sound Creative invites one artist from Finland and one from Taiwan to immerse and work within two urban nature areas during autumn 2026.
Artists are exploring Helsinki Central Park and Siangshan Wetland along the southern coast of Hsinchu. Artists will develop their practice and present their work in both contexts as part of the residency initiative. Invited artists and more information about the initiative will be announced in August 2026.
Baltics and Nordics – Residing Non-linear Technologies and Sonic Worldings
In collaboration with Arte/Titanik Gallery in Turku, M-Cult invites two artists working with sonic and technology-driven practices to a Nordic–Baltic residency programme. The residency centers an exchange and co-development between the artists that each will stay in Turku and Helsinki with outcomes shaped as public programs taking place in both cities.
The residency expands understanding of sound and new technologies as creative media. It approaches technology as a situated practice, shifting attention away from narratives of "progress" promoted by large technology companies toward local, Indigenous, and community-oriented perspectives.
This programme is for artists from or working in the Nordic-Baltic region. Artists will be selected via open call in autumn 2026, with the first residency periods taking place in spring 2027.
Funding and Project context
These collaborations are supported through M-Cult's international development collaboration project, Finnish Media Art Networks. The project will be carried out with AV-arkki and the Finnish Light Art Society FLASH, and funded by the Finnish Arts and Culture Agency. The collaboration with Titanik Gallery is funded by Nordic Culture Point.
About the partners
Residency Partners
arebyte Digital Art Centre
A London-based not-for-profit gallery, founded in 2013, arebyte works with artists across emerging technologies, including AI, game engines, and virtual environments, supporting the production and presentation of critically engaged digital art.
Finnish Cultural Institute in the UK and Ireland
The Finnish Institute in the UK and Ireland supports the internationalisation of Finnish and Finland-based artists, researchers and social actors. As the leading expert on Finnish culture and society, the Institute enables societal change through art and culture, empowering diverse perspectives and fostering a more inclusive cultural landscape for all. Founded in 1991, the Institute is a non-profit, private foundation funded by the Finnish Ministry of Education and Culture.
Accton Art Foundation / Hsinchu City Art Site of Railway Warehouse
Established in 2000 with the support of Accton Technology Corporation, the Accton Arts Foundation (AAF) is grounded in the company’s core value of “making partnership work.” The Foundation positions art as a bridge to cultivate a diverse and inclusive environment, while promoting sustainability and equitable forms of public engagement. Through long-term collaborations with schools, social organizations, and community groups, the program seeks to connect artistic practice with everyday life and local knowledge.
https://www.instagram.com/artsite_aaf/
Zone Sound Creative
Zone Sound Creative is a Taiwan-based creative studio founded by artist Chi Po-Hao that connects music, technology, and art. The studio works across diverse technical and artistic fields through productions, education, and international exchange. It also runs the Sonic Sensory Lab, an initiative that develops participatory approaches to sonic perception and expression.
https://www.instagram.com/zonesoundcreative/
https://www.facebook.com/zonesoundcreative/
https://www.zonesoundcreative.com/en/
Titanik Gallery
Titanik is a contemporary art space run by Artery. The gallery, located on the banks of the Aurajoki River in Turku, was founded in 1988 and has since then been presenting topical Finnish and international contemporary art. Titanik focuses on new, experimental and unconventional contemporary art that is in dialogue with the surrounding society. In addition to the activities in the gallery, Titanik regularly organises various offsite events in Turku’s urban space and surrounding areas as well as hosts residency programmes.
Partners in Finnish Media Art Networks project
AV-arkki
AV-arkki is the centre for Finnish media art, founded in 1989. It maintains a constantly growing distribution archive of over 3,000 works. AV-arkki supports artists by providing tools, guidance, and structures that help them develop their careers. At the same time, it acts as an expert organisation, renewing the structures and operating models of media art. AV-arkki collaborates with archives, festivals, museums, and organisations in Finland and abroad. Its distribution programme reaches over 40 countries annually.
Finnish Light Art Society FLASH
Finnish Light Art Society FLASH advances Finnish light art as a professional field and promotes its artists in Finland and internationally. The association organizes exhibitions, residencies, education, and events, maintains FLASH Database, advocates for the field, and actively contributes to discussions shaping the future of light art.
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