Inter­na­tio­nal Comics Resi­dence 2025

OPEN CALL: INTER­NA­TIO­NAL COMICS RESI­DENCY 2025 IN NORT­HERN FIN­LAND

Resi­dency period: 1.10.–30.11.2025
Loca­tion: Limin­ka (link­ki), Oulu (link­ki), Fin­land (link­ki)
Applica­tion Dead­li­ne: 31.5.2025

The Oulu Comics Cen­ter’s (link­ki) and Limin­ka School of Arts (link­ki) Comics and Ani­ma­tion depart­ment’s inter­na­tio­nal comic resi­dency is loca­ted in the town of Limin­ka (popu­la­tion: 10 196). In this loca­tion, situa­ted on the sho­res of the Bal­tic Sea, both migra­ting birds and art meet in a crea­ti­ve and ins­pi­ring envi­ron­ment. Just a few dozen kilo­me­ters away from Limin­ka lies Oulu (popu­la­tion: 216 194), a gateway to the north and a cen­ter of growth. Oulu is also the Euro­pean Capi­tal of Cul­tu­re 2026.

We would like to briefly out­li­ne what we have plan­ned for resi­dency period. The visit offers a great oppor­tu­ni­ty to expe­rience the peace of nort­hern Fin­land as well as the hust­le and bust­le of the city. Com­mu­ni­ty is very impor­tant to us. The­re will be oppor­tu­ni­ties to meet with the locals and pro­fes­sio­nals in lite­ra­tu­re, fine arts and comics art from the Nor­dic count­ries.

Pro­gram rela­ted to comics:

A pos­si­bi­li­ty of trans­la­ting and publis­hing your exis­ting comic book in Fin­nish as soon as your resi­dency is con­fir­med.

An exhi­bi­tion at the Comics Gal­le­ry! (link­ki) (10.10.–9.11.2025), loca­ted at the Oulu Comics Cen­ter, Cul­tu­ral Cent­re Val­ve (link­ki) (Hal­li­tus­ka­tu 7, Oulu). The ope­ning of the exhi­bi­tion will be part of the Oulu Book Fair (link­ki) pro­gram.

You will be invi­ted as a special guest and par­tici­pa­te in the sta­ge pro­gram at the Oulu Comics Fes­ti­val (link­ki) (14.–16.11.2025), which is the nort­hern­most annual event focused on comics art in the world.

We will orga­nize an exhi­bi­tion in the Limin­ka Libra­ry’s gal­le­ry (link­ki) in Novem­ber. This exhi­bi­tion could be with stu­dents from the art school or it could fea­tu­re comics from your home count­ry, for example. Let’s deci­de this later.

The resi­dency also inclu­des teac­hing a works­hop at the art school, sche­du­led for week 42.

The Oulu Comics Cen­ter was foun­ded in 2014. It orga­nizes comics focused events, sup­ports and pro­mo­tes comics cul­tu­re, and crea­tes a plat­form for comic artists in the Oulu region and the Euro-Arc­tic area. We have a comic shop and Fin­land’s only comic art-focused gal­le­ry. The Oulu City Libra­ry also hosts Fin­land’s only libra­ry specia­lized in comics, Sar­jas­to (link­ki).

Limin­ka School of Arts is the oldest com­mu­ni­ty col­le­ge in Fin­land, foun­ded in 1892. Adult stu­dents stu­dy for a year or lon­ger in a boar­ding school envi­ron­ment in one of five pro­grams: Comics and Ani­ma­tion, Fine Arts (pain­ting, print­ma­king, sculp­ting), Theat­re and Per­for­ming Arts, Free-form Stu­dies, and Per­for­ming Arts. It is a res­pec­ted ins­ti­tu­tion that has pro­duced many recog­nized pro­fes­sio­nals in con­tem­po­ra­ry art and comics.

We expect the resi­dency artist to hold a five-day works­hop and an open lec­tu­re at Limin­ka School of Arts during the resi­dency period. We are loo­king for a comic artist who is com­mit­ted to teac­hing and has pre­vious teac­hing expe­rience. The resi­dency artist will be sup­por­ted by the school’s stan­ding teac­hers.

We offer to resi­dency artist:

• A fee of 500 euros for the resi­dency period (tra­vel to and from Oulu must be cove­red by the artist).

• Accom­mo­da­tion at the art school. You will have you own room inclu­ding bath­room and access to sha­red spaces, whe­re ideas start to bloom. You will also have access to other ser­vices of the art school, inclu­ding the elect­ric sau­na and the wood-hea­ted out­door sau­na.

• Break­fast, lunch, and after­noon cof­fee in the school res­tau­rant during the school days at Limin­ka School of Arts, which help focusing on crea­ting art.

• Free stu­dio space for various media, print­ma­king, sculp­ting, ani­ma­tion, per­for­ming arts…

• A local bus card for tra­vel between Oulu and Limin­ka.

• Access to our uten­sils and imple­ments.

• Expo­su­re in local and natio­nal media.

How To apply

The applica­tion MUST inclu­de

• Let­ter of intent
• CV
• Docu­men­ta­tion of up to five pre­vious works

We hope that you will pre­sent one of your easi­ly trans­la­table comic books to us. This isn’t man­da­to­ry, but it will help faci­li­ta­te discus­sions with publis­hers.

Use e‑mail: sarjakuvaoulu(at)gmail.com

In case of ques­tions or furt­her infor­ma­tion about Limin­ka School of Arts or logis­tics, feel free to con­tact stan­ding teac­hers with email: sarjakuvalinja(at)gmail.com

In pre­vious years, the resi­dency has hos­ted

The first Resi­dency artist in year 2017 was Amr Talaat (link­ki) (Egypt)
In the year 2018 Cara Bean (link­ki) (USA) was in resi­dence.
Resi­dence artist in 2019 was Nancy A. Cos­ta (link­ki) (Puer­to Rico)
Resi­dence artist in 2021 was Daniel Og (link­ki) (Brazil)
Resi­dence artist in 2022 was Joa­na Mosi (link­ki) (Por­tu­gal)
Resi­dence artist in 2023 was Shpend Ben­gu (link­ki) (Alba­nia)
Resi­dence artist in 2024 was Kateři­na Čupová (link­ki) (Czech Republic).