UPDATE 10 JUNE 2024

HIAP Spring 2024 Residents’ Open Studio Withdrawal Statement

The Helsinki International Artist Programme (HIAP) Spring 2024 Residents are collectively withdrawing from the HIAP Open Studios as a call for action from HIAP, the institution, to publicly extend solidarity to the Palestinian struggle for decolonisation and to support the political, civil, and human rights of all Palestinians.

This is in response to HIAP’s unwillingness to sign a Commitment to an Apartheid Free Zone which was prepared and signed by the HIAP Spring 2024 Residents. We demand HIAP to use the time, energy, and resources freed up from organising Open Studios to:

• Gather resources and form a public response to the residents actions and demands.
• Commit to participating in the boycott, divestment, and sanctions (BDS) movement and Commitment to an Apartheid Free Zone.
• Commit to sustainably implementing tangible actions within the programme beyond our term as residents.
• Work towards establishing a sustainable Palestinian Solidarity Residencies Programme, building on past initiatives and the current active Ukraine Solidarity Residencies Programme, to directly support Palestinian artists and artworkers.

Our time at HIAP is brief and we are taking this time to channel our energy, and mobilise our grief and outrage into direct action. In doing so, we commit to meaningfully start and maintain a much-needed and overdue dialogue to initiate and demand institutional accountability. We invite HIAP alumni and future residents to sign this statement with us in solidarity.

Please find the link to sign the Commitment to an Apartheid Free Zone in the HIAP Spring 2024 Residents instagram bios and HIAP online platforms.

Free Palestine. Ceasefire Now.

UPDATE / 7 JUNE 2024

Based on the initiative of the HIAP Spring 2024 Residents, the Open Studios event is cancelled. A statement by the residents will be announced very soon.

Participating HIAP residents
Agnė Bagdžiūnaitė (LT)
Farbod Fakharzadeh (IR/FI)
Juliane Foronda (CA)
Léann Herlihy (IRE)
Lieven Lahaye (BELG/EST)
Stephanie Misa (AUT/PHIL/USA)
Anastasiia Sviridenko (UA)
Yujie Zhou (CN/FI)