Hosted by Pikene på Broen, the BAR International artist-in-residency programme in Kirkenes is open to artists of all genres along with musicians, architects, researchers and curators. The program facilitates artistic research and is aimed at new art production and creating new stories about the High North. Through the residency, artists gain insights into and work with the issues that are locally rooted but at the same time have global relevance.
One of the artists in residency at BAR International was Tea Andreoletti, an artistic researcher and performance artist working within modes of storytelling and social and cultural activism. Andreoletti took part in Pikene på Broen’s residency programme in 2021, and came back to Kirkenes for the Barents Spektakel festival with a performance project CALL FOR STAND-IN MAYORS AND COUNCILLORS, LAND, MINES AND BORDERS: FROM SØR-VARANGER TO THE UPPER SERIANA VALLEY (IT).
Riikka Keränen is a visual artist from Ristijärvi in the Kainuu region of Finland. Through her work, the artist reflects upon the entangled nature between human and other-than-human worlds. She attended Pikene på Broen’s BAR International residency programme, as part of Det GodeLiv – The Sweetness of Living, a networking, knowledge exchange, and experience-sharing artistic research and contemporary art process. Keränen took part in Barents Spektakel 2022 with ‘From and Towards Basic Elements’, outdoor sculptures and installations, and the exhibition ‘Tropisme’ at Terminal B, Pikene på Broen’s project space in Kirkenes.
BAR has received Support for artistic residencies within the Nordic-Baltic Mobility Programme for Culture.