If there is no open call at the moment and you are interested in the residency opportunity at KORDON, please contact: residency@kordon.ee

KORDON PINHOLE artist-in-residence program MAY-JULY 2026

KORDON invites artist duos from Nordic and Baltic countries to participate in the rethinking of abandoned military landscape and architecture. We are accepting applications from creative professionals who work as couples. Artists, architects, landscape architects, curators, researchers and all other creative practicioners from relevant fields are most welcome to apply. The 2 month residency program will take place from May, 16–July, 15 in 2026 and provides an opportunity to work in the context of Hiiumaa island and the Baltic Sea.

Call open 1.11.2025 - 1.12.2025.
Application deadline: 30.11.2025 at midnight (EET).
All applicants will be informed about the selection results by 15.12.2025.

PINHOLE focuses on spatial situations in post-traumatic times, addressing the persistence and adaptation of architectural heritage in the context of social and political transformations. The aim is to explore spatial values and examine how and why architectural structures still exist from one era to another, even after losing their original function and meaning. We seek to answer the question: what are the spatial values that transcend the timeline of change? The residency program aims to address political trauma through (somatic) experience and personal objects. The program is a continuation of the Time Lap residency program, which took place in the fall of 2024 at KORDON.

Abandoned bunkers, defense ditches, shooting pits, shooting platforms, border guard towers form a pattern in a beatiful landscape, reminding of the dark side of the history of the island. Defense lines and military facilities were built in Hiiumaa which is at the crossroads of shipping lanes in Baltic Sea during the I and II WW-s. There is also a large amount of military objects from the 50-years of Soviet regime, when the island was the westernmost border zone of the Soviet Empire.

Right now, when there is a war in Europe, the question of its consequences for the environment and the local community has raised in focus. How to deal with the complex legacy of war? How to rethink, repurpose and reuse military architecture to heal the wounds of the past? In what way to transform the gloomy shadows of the past into a modern spatial art experience? Time and space, past and future – everything is connected, one influences the other. In the present moment, dealing with the past, we look at the future through a PINHOLE, where things may look completely different.

__GOAL
Every place has its unique historical and cultural memory. It is often the military sites that evoke dark thoughts. At the same time, the local community has inevitably become accustomed to and accepting of the military sites and the altered landscapes and atmosphere they create. With the help of the professional artists involved in the project, the residency will provide a fresh perspective on the topic. The goal of the residency is to generate creative ideas for the reuse of military architecture and landscape. We explore practice-based thinking and doing though discussions, tests, sketches, prototypes, proposals and propositions. The mediums and forms of expression produced as part of these processes can be sculptural, conceptual, architectural, social, living, and/or participatory in nature. The aim is that everyone ends the residency with a new beginning – this could be arriving at a point where a longer-term project begins.

__SELECTION
We are looking for creative professionals who are working as artist duos and are willing to share a bedroom/studio during residency. Applicants must be legal residents in Nordic-Baltic countries, except Estonia*. The applicant must be willing to participate in the residency program full-time and to arrive and depart from the residency from/to their home country. Residents are expected to be ready to relate to the local community and local context. The jury selects the artists based on their previous work and the presented vision for the theme of the residency program. The final selection will be done after virtual interview.

__STRUCTURE
The length of the residency is 2 month, which starts on 16.05.2026 and ends on 15.07.2026. The residency begins with familiarization with the local community and Hiiumaa island in the context of the residency topic. This is followed by an independent creative process, studio visits by mentors and the open studio sessions. We are immersed in a neighborhood and can maintain a continious dialogue with a particular place/site/situation/public. The residency ends with an exhibition.

__WHAT WE OFFER
KORDON offers mentorship throughout the residency to find and discover connections between the topic and creative processes together. We help establish contacts with the local community and experts in the field. Accommodation is in the newly reconstructed residency house in double bedroom/studios. Each resident will receive a one time artist scholarship of 2000€ (included taxes). Additionally each resident will receive a one time production/creative grant of 800€ for material costs during 2-months residency period and 350€ for green travelling to residency and back.

__HOW TO APPLY
To apply, we ask each applicant to compile the following into pdf files:

• Short CV as a one/two-page document with a summary of personal information and contact details, relevant education, and professional experience. 

• Portfolio

• Answers to the following questions:

• The name of the partner with whom you are applying.

• How do you relate your practice to this residency cycle and the proposed topic?
  (max. 500 words)

• How would this residency contribute to the development of your research and practice? (max. 250 words)

• How did you find out about this open call (website, newsletter, social media etc)?

Deadline: 30th of November, 2025 at midnight (EET).
We ask you to send the application to: opencall@kordon.ee
Questions regarding the application process can be directed to the same e-mail address.

*The applicant must be the legal resident in Nordic-Baltic countries except Estonia, which is country of residence: Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Latvia, Lithuania, Norway, Sweden including their Overseas Countries and Territories: Greenland, the Faroe Islands and Åland

PINHOLE is curated by Urmo Vaikla and Tüüne-Kristin Vaikla and funded by the Nordic Culture Point. Additionally the applications will be assessed by the KORDONair team: Ann Mirjam Vaikla, Ingel Vaikla and Rasmus Stenager Jensen and invited external jury members.