The AyarKut Foundation announces the launch of three international art residencies in Yakutsk in 2022 and launches an open competition for applications for participation.

The three residencies of the program – "Indigenous Knowledge", "Soundscape of the Arctic" and "In dialogue with Nature" – are primarily aimed at analyzing the local Yakut environment and its development. One of its tasks is to establish a dialogue with both narrow professional community and wide audience. The AYARKUT AIR art residency program is designed to become an effective point of interaction between representatives of various countries and cultures, as well as contribute to the development of the local art scene of Yakutia.

The AYARKUT AIR Art Residency program, initiated in 2021 by the AyarKut Foundation in Yakutsk – is an international project to support professionals in the field of contemporary art, inviting artists from all regions of Russia and the world to cooperate, regardless of their preferred genres and techniques, as well as age and nationality. The residence provides an opportunity for artists to visit Yakutsk within the framework of an individual plan required for the implementation of the project, immerse themselves in local cultural, scientific and natural contexts, find themselves in a new environment of the Sakha Republic and conditions conducive to intensive work, which will create an opportunity for the fruitful implementation of creative projects.

Yakutia, or the Sakha Republic, is the largest region of Russia by territory and one of the largest administrative units in the world. If Yakutia were an independent state, it would occupy the 8th place in the world by area. At the same time, in terms of population, Sakha remains one of the most sparsely populated territories (almost 3 sq. km per 1 person here, which is due to the fact that almost 40% of the region's lands are located beyond the Arctic Circle). At the same time, Yakutia, almost the entire territory of which is located in the permafrost zone, is one of the most isolated and inaccessible regions of the world in terms of transport: 90% of the territory does not have year-round transport links.

In addition to the general isolation of the entire region, the capital of the Republic of Sakha - Yakutsk is also very far from other large megacities, which makes this region a particularly difficult area for the development of international cultural policy and cultural tourism. In the current not only social and economic context, but also in the context of the current political situation, the development of art residences in Yakutia seems not only an effective tool for a professional exchange, but is also the most important direction for the development of international cooperation in the field of culture and arts and the development of creative mobility of professionals of the art world, vital for maintaining a viable artistic environment and integrating Yakutia into the global context.

The main objectives of the modern art residence are to stimulate professional exchange and creative mobility processes, to provide artists with the opportunity to find inspiration and new material for artistic research, to establish new professional connections, to think about new works and joint projects with international colleagues and like-minded people. At the same time, the functions of art residences are constantly expanding, being tested in new contexts and formats and go far beyond the traditional cultural exchange and the improvement of professional skills, so the AYARKUT AIR residency program is also a search for a sustainable art residency format that would be adequate to the post-pandemic state of the world.

See more info on the programs at the official website.