Currently 5 active paid grants, fellowships and residencies taking place in Finland, across AI, arts, film, journalism, research, tech and cross-disciplinary practice. Many are open to applicants of any nationality; check each entry for residency and citizenship requirements. Hand-curated and updated weekly. Browse the list below, or use the interactive desk for filtering and shortlisting.
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A new pilot residency from Art and Media Culture Agency M-Cult in Helsinki and Arte artists' association / Titanik gallery in Turku, sitting at the intersection of art, media and sonic practice, funded by the Nordic-Baltic Mobility Programme for Culture from Nordic Culture Point. TWO ARTISTS will be selected. THE PREMISE: the programme treats technology as a situated practice and deliberately shifts attention away from the progress narratives promoted by large global technology companies, toward local, indigenous and community-oriented perspectives. It focuses on making vernacular and non-linear technological and sonic environments visible, foregrounding vibrant local histories and traditions across the Nordic and Baltic region, and asks what non-linear sonic and media practice might look like in the current social, political and cultural landscape. WHAT EACH ARTIST RECEIVES: EUR 3,500 artist fee; EUR 2,000 production budget; accommodation for two months divided between Helsinki and Turku, one month in each; travel costs for one return ticket from a Nordic-Baltic country; access to Titanik's residency studio space and a working desk at M-Cult's office during each stay; mentoring and curatorial support from both organisations' staff; and networking into the Finnish media art and contemporary art scenes. In return the artist develops in-depth or focused research and presents their practice and research at two public events, one in each city. WHO CAN APPLY: individual artists only, explicitly NOT collectives this round; artists from or based in Finland, Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Iceland, Aland, the Faroe Islands, Greenland, Estonia, Latvia or Lithuania; working in sound, media and/or digital arts, or the expanded field of vernacular technologies, all defined broadly by the organisers. Applicants must be available to travel to Finland for the full two-month period across February and March 2027. The organisers welcome applicants at all career stages and from all backgrounds. One submission per artist: if two are sent, only the later one is reviewed. HOW TO APPLY: submit via the form linked from the open call page with a brief letter of motivation including a research plan for the residency, how it connects with the programme's themes and what you would focus on (max 1-2 pages), your CV, and a link to your portfolio. Applications in English only. DEADLINE: 30 August 2026 at 23:59 UTC+3. Online interviews with shortlisted artists take place before 19 September 2026, and all applicants are notified by email by the end of September 2026. JURY: Jussi Koitela, Director of M-Cult, Helsinki, and Farbod Fakharzadeh, Director of Arte ry and Titanik, Turku. ACCOMMODATION AND ACCESSIBILITY: in Helsinki, the Vallila Residency hosted by M-Cult is a 30 sqm apartment in a small wooden house with one room, kitchen and bathroom with shower; it is NOT fully accessible, sitting on the first floor up stairs with no elevator (details from info@m-cult.org). In Turku, the Titanik A.i.R. apartment is 27 sqm on the top floor of a building with an elevator, but the space including the bathroom is not fully accessible (details from info@titanik.fi). A partner, friend or child may join, but their expenses are not covered. THE PARTNERS: M-Cult, founded in 2000, develops and presents art and media culture with a focus on the social and political dimensions of media and technology, working through art commissions, residencies and learning programmes. Titanik, established in Turku in 1988 by the artist-run organization Arte Ry, has since 2006 run Titanik A.i.R., the first artist residency in Finland with a focus on sound art and sonic practices. CONTACT: Jussi Koitela (jussi.koitela@m-cult.org) or Farbod Fakharzadeh (director@arte.fi).
The European AI & Society Fund is launching Building Narrative Power, a EUR 2 million funding and learning programme to counter Big Tech's dominance over how AI is understood, and to help people and communities shape new ways of thinking and talking about the technology they want. The Fund's strategy is to build the power of the public interest community to shape the direction of AI in Europe; narratives are central to creating the conditions for a greater say over how AI is adopted and used. THREE THEMES where research shows the public already feels strongly: (1) DATA CENTRES: as the EU aims to triple data centre numbers in the next five to seven years, pollution, energy prices and compromised grid access have mobilised communities across the political spectrum; proposals should explore narrative questions that move communities beyond resistance towards engagement in shaping data centre expansion. (2) AI AND JOBS: 57% of the public in a recent study expressed concern about how AI will change employment, more pronounced among lower-income people, and the concern is not only displacement but the quality and nature of work, autonomy and dignity; proposals should move the debate from generalised anxiety into a mobilising issue that shapes the future of work. (3) YOUNG PEOPLE: beyond the strident social media ban debate, young people encounter AI in education, friendships and future careers, and their wider views are rarely heard; proposals should build narratives that help young people shape the technologies that will influence their lives. LEARNING PROGRAMME: grantees join a community of practice, sharing experiences across issues and places, supporting each other through delivery and reflecting on which strategies and stories have most salience, with findings feeding back to the Fund and other funders. ABOUT THE FUNDER: the European AI & Society Fund is a pooled fund with 18 funding partners that mobilises a public interest community in Europe to fight for AI that serves people, society and planet; it takes no EU, government or Big Tech money. ELIGIBILITY: this call is only open to organisations in Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, the Republic of Cyprus, Czechia, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden and Switzerland; applications from the UK, the Western Balkans and other non-European countries are not accepted. Guidance for applicants and a full application-form preview are published so you can prepare a draft before submitting. HOW TO APPLY: create an account on the Fund's application platform Optimy (link in the guidance documents) and submit the first-stage application before 31 August 2026. KEY DATES: call launched 16 July 2026; information sessions 22 July, 29 July and 24 August 2026 (11:00 to 12:00 CET); first-stage deadline 31 August 2026; unsuccessful applicants notified 16 October 2026; shortlisted applicants invited to submit a detailed proposal on 19 October 2026, due 16 November 2026; funding decisions notified 14 December 2026; grants start February 2027. Questions to info@europeanaifund.org; an FAQ covering eligibility, coalitions, non-profit status and what the grant can be spent on is published at the bottom of the programme page.
Supports organisations building new cross-border professional networks, funding joint meetings, workshops, staff exchanges and collaborative platforms among artists and cultural practitioners. It is designed for the convening and infrastructure-building side of festival work rather than artistic production, and it explicitly excludes artistic productions and public events, so it is used to assemble festival partners rather than to stage the festival itself. Grants run up to EUR 20,000 for networks of a year or less, with Nordic Culture Point covering at most 70 percent of the budget and a hard 85 percent ceiling on combined pan-Nordic public funding. The autumn 2026 window is 10 August to 4 September 2026, closing 15:59 UTC+3. TIMING RULE: activity may not begin until at least eight weeks after the deadline. IMPORTANT ELIGIBILITY DIFFERENCE from the Culture and Art Programme: the applicant must be resident in a Nordic or Baltic country and must be a professional with documented training or experience in art and culture, so non-Nordic and non-Baltic lead applicants are not eligible. A strong fit for a media-arts or sound-art organisation assembling a regional partner consortium ahead of a larger application.
Nordic Culture Point's main project line, funding Nordic collaborative arts and culture projects across all phases: preliminary work, production, presentation and dissemination. Eligible activity explicitly includes creative productions, workshops, knowledge development and spaces for artists to meet publics, which covers festivals, public programmes and convenings when framed as new collaborations. The tiered co-financing model is the standout feature: EUR 7,000 with no match at all, rising to EUR 100,000 at a 50 percent match, and in-kind contributions count. NOTABLE: applicants do not need Nordic residency or citizenship provided the three-country and two-Nordic partner structure is met, so a non-Nordic organisation can lead the project. The autumn window runs 10 August to 10 September 2026, closing 15:59 UTC+3. TIMING RULE: decisions arrive ten weeks after the deadline and no project may start before notification, so budget for a roughly three-month lag. The programme will not finance existing tours, institutional running costs, ongoing festival core financing, solo performances, film, TV or gaming production, or book publishing, so a recurring festival must present a distinct new collaborative strand rather than seek operating support.
Kone Foundation is Finland's major private funder for academic research in the humanities, social sciences and environmental sciences, for professional artistic work across all disciplines, and specifically for multidisciplinary projects combining scholarly and artistic approaches, which is where digital culture, media arts and artistic research proposals land. Individuals, working groups and legal entities with a Finnish business ID may apply, and artistic groups and organisations can receive up to EUR 250,000. The Finland connection is the binding constraint: a non-Finnish applicant needs a Finnish institutional affiliation, Finland residence, or the work must happen in Finland, though international collaborators can join a group freely once one member is a Finnish citizen or Finland-based. Psychology, theology, law, business studies without an interdisciplinary element, and medical research are not funded, nor are master's studies, continuing education, building renovation, standalone equipment purchases or hobby activity. The annual call runs 1 to 15 September each year, closing 15 September 2026 at 16:00 EEST, with decisions announced in November and December. TIMING: funding is never retroactive and projects must begin in January or later, so a September 2026 application funds work starting January 2027 at the earliest. FLAG: Kone frames its funding around artistic work and research projects rather than festival or event hosting as such, so an event-led application needs to be framed as an artistic or research project.