Winter has been exceptionally hard at the residency this year. The balcony was covered in snow just a couple of days ago, as were the steep roads and valleys of the island`s mountains. Of course, no one has winter tyres in Greece. So when the great winter storm came and cut the electricity from the house last week, the electrician had to risk a whole lot of other things than just his Sunday night free time to come up to the mountains to fix it. Again, I couldn`t be more impressed on the quickness of the helpfulness of the locals. Where in Finland can you get this kind of service?  A new modem replaced the old one broken by thunder, and things run smoothly again.

Of course, the only thing wrong hasn`t been the weather in Greece. Some demonstrations reached the neighbour island of the residency, Korfu already, although the epicenter of the crisis- related rioting is still in Athens. Everything is as it used to be up in the mountains, but for how long? If things go like in Argentina in 2001, Greece divorces the painful union with euro, as the prognosis is according to some specialists, already this May-June. There could be a short time of chaos for sure, due to closing of the banks. But the villagers are well prepared in case of the fall. Granny Christina, the sweet neighbour of the residence, will surely prepare some eggs and potatoes from her lands for the guests again, as she always has. Also the kitchen is full of cans and pasta kindly bought by the guests to the house.

In any case, we keep a close eye on Athens and keep the guests prepared and ready by informing. Greece has survived many demonstrations and crisis in the past in the area, so it will survive this one too. The famous Asprogerakata main square has hosted e.g. demonstrations against the Venetians in the 17oos, who brought inequal laws for olive grove planting and took the olive seeds on the island by force from Italy, destroying much of the nature of the island. Also the great strikes of Greece of the 1930s were initialized from the very heart of our small village, to mention only few. The locals might be proud and very stubborn but extremely friendly people, as the guests have noticed.

Pictures from winter maintenance work, 1st week of January 2012: white waxed upstairs hardwood floors, new hooks for clothes, downstairs ceiling painted white. Outdoors: white chalk paint for the walls and corners, to prevent plants and insects from invading the house until spring.

This little creature, Pink, you may well recognize from the previous post. Now five months old, he suffered a severe eye infection in August. Pink was treated with antibiotics and eye drops with the help of wonderful guests at the residency. A pet doctor, Kitinatreio, was consulted in August in Lefkada town, and as the infection didn`t dissappear on its own, again in October. Thanks to the persistent guests he is now starting to recover. It still remains to be seen whether or not he will be able to keep his vision in the right eye. Pink has become a true mascot of the residency, entertaining already the fifth set of guests since summer 2011. Pink was born to a litter of four by a feral cat in the abandoned building next to the residency in May.

The Programme for 2012 hosts 15 artists, researchers, film makers, musicians and curators. I am happy to see that the next year also film people, writers as well as curators have found the residency. However, next year`s programme is not as international as the first year`s. This was simply because the vast majority of applications came from Finland for 2012. Inaddition, the residency programme received 50% more applications than 2011 due to a positive press coverage in January 2011 in Helsingin Sanomat, the main daily newspaper in Finland.

Thank you all guests who have kindly given feedback and sent pictures of their stay! Your comments and experiences help me to formulate and improve the stay for future guests.

If you still haven`t sent photos, please do so at info@sfakiotes-residency.net. The pictures will we used solely for non-profit purposes such as informing about the residency programme, and will always be credited with the name of the author.

photo:  Pink, the official residency pet, by Nina Lassila

Sfakiotes Residency Programme

Programme 2012

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1. Nanna Saarhelo                                                                               

9. – 29.  January, 3 weeks                                                   

2.  Vera Nevanlinna    

30. January -  19. February, 3 weeks                                

3. Susan Wilander                                   

20. February – 4. March 2012, 2 weeks

4. Heini Aho & Sebastian Ziegler     

5. – 25. March, 3 weeks                                      

5. Emilia Lehtinen             

 March 26. – April 15.,  3 weeks                                     

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 April  16. – 29. – closed

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6. Antti Reikko                

30. April – 13. May, 2weeks                                                             

7. Mia Mäkelä                  

 14. May – 3. June, 3 weeks            

8.  Saila Susiluoto ja Markku Pääskynen       

  4. -  22.  June,  2.5 weeks                                                        

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Midsummer  & July – closed 

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9.  Prof. Dr. phil. Kerstin Stutterheim       

1. – 22. August, 3 weeks                                 

10.   Petri Hytönen ja Marika Kaarna     

23. August – September 13. , 3 weeks     

11.  Sari Kivinen & Juhani koivumäki  

14. -30. September, 2.5 weeks      

12. Jussi Rautaniemi                                   

1.-14. October,  2 weeks                              

13.  Anna ja Marja Salonen, Akseli Tuomivaara, Mikko Rusanen 

 15. – 28. October, 2 weeks                                                                                               

14.Denise Ziegler & Mikko Maasalo      

29. October -25. November, 1 month     

15. Salla Hakkola                                      

26. November – 21. December , 3.5 weeks                              

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December 20- January 10.: closed

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On Reserve (in case of a cancellation):

1. Aura Saarikoski ja Joonas Rutanen 

2. Taika Ilola 

3. Jouna Karsi

RENT RATES

1.1. – 31.12.2012               350€month  (87,5€/week)

© Sfakiotes Residency Programme 2011

Lefkada old town, 2011

Thank you for your applications!

The application time ended on Friday, and Sfakiotes Residency Programme has received well over 50% more applications than last year. Only 10-15 lucky will get a residency time for next year.

Please apply again next year!

The Programme for 2012 will be announced here later today.

best,

Sfakiotes Residency Programme

The theme for 2012 is Borders.

What kind of borders between humans, countries, nations, ideologies, religions, time, habits, cultures or behavior etc. there can be? Please write your application proposal in relation to the topic and specify how your artistic practice/ research will relate to it. Attach a CV.

NOTE: In 2012 it is possible to apply ONLY for the whole house!

Rent rates for  for 1.1.-31.12.2012:

350€/month

175,5€/2 weeks

Period: 2 weeks – 2 months per applicant/ group.

Amount of people in the house: 4 people maximum. Families and spouses are welcome.

The residency is CLOSED during JULY, EASTER and CHRISTMAS!

> Download the application form:  RTF |

APPLICATION TIME IS 1.-30.9.2011 and DEADLINE 30.9.2011. If you have trouble sending the on-line form, please download and send by email to: info@sfakiotes-residency.net.

The residency programme for 2012 will be announced on this homepage 3rd of October, 2011. The accepted applicants will also receive a confirmation email.

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THANK YOU FOR YOUR APPLICATIONS. THE RESULTS WILL BE PUBLISHED ON THIS SITE ON MON, 3rd OCTOBER 2011.

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SFAKIOTES RESIDENCY PROGRAMME APPLICATION 2012

Asprogerakata, 31080 Sfakiotes, Lefkas, Greece

www.sfakiotes-residency.info

Name/ Nimi

Email, tel.

Avec(s):

Preferred Time & Duration/ Aika ja kesto

NOTE: Put also an alternative time! / HUOM Laita myös vaihtoehtoinen aika:

Whole house/ Koko talo (rent 350 €/month/kk, 175,5€/2 weeks/ 2 kk)

A Short Work Plan for the Residency Period/Lyhyt työsuunnitelma residenssiajalle

PLEASE include a CV. Laita mukaan cv.

Date & Signature/ Allekirjoitus ja päiväys

Please send by online-form. If you have problems sending the online-form use this rtf-form and attach cv to: info@sfakiotes-residency.net.

While we were working, four little eyes were steadily fixed on us, born in May in the abandoned house next door. We christened them Pink and Turtle, and their mom Minos, and gave them food and water 2 times a day on the terrace. The life of the cats-in-residence is hard: only 0-1 kittens out of a feral cat litter survive in these circumstances in the heat and dangers of the mountains.

So, Sfakiotes Residency thanks all its first guests for great courage and patience, as the house will be completely in function during the following days and weeks to come. Some small renovation work will go on in January. The mountain side wall will receive more concrete plaster on its outside and the street better drainage, and the balcony, windows and floors will get some paint for protection. All the work will be conducted with a minimal disturbance for the guests, and are scheduled to last 2-3 days altogether. All it takes is 2-3 sunny (completely non-rainy) days.

The renovation started in October, consisting of a complete re-building of the house, and it included plumbing, electricity, heating, floor, wall, kitchen, bathroom, terrace, and garden renovations. In addition, the house got a small parking lot and and paved garden terrace. The balcony received a wooden, waterproof construction, local iron aisles (used also for the staircase that had to be completely rebuilt), and a small door covers against winter season rains.

The renovation was conducted in respect of the old and imitating the original aesthetics of the house, and keeping some of the old wooden material as a base for construction. The kitchen was replaced entirely as it had been completely destroyed during the 30 years it had been abandoned. Restored material include: wine barrels in the garden (they were assumingly last used before the big earthquake of the Ionian islands in 1953), a lucky horseshoe, a rusty walking stick, a knife, and an old lock used in the garden door. All of the original hardwood structures of the house were also maintained, but floors had been collapsed so they had to be replaced. The ceiling had been reconstructed in the 80s. All the materials, such as the natural tiling of the rare studio and the garden, iron and the wooden hardwood floor were local materials, as all the workers also were local professionals.

During the renovation process, the house was also connected to phone lines and got an internet connection.

Here is the Programme for 2011.

Congratulations for all accepted artists, researchers, film professionals and curators! The level of applications was quite high and for some months there was a lot of demand. This year I preferred shorter residency periods in order to be able to give this opportunity to as many as possible.

Good luck for next year for those who applied but were not chosen this year. I hope to receive your applications again in fall 2011.

In case of cancellations etc., please contact me at info@sfakiotes-residency.net.

best wishes, Hanna Ojamo

Director

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Programme 2011

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January – closed

1. JP Kaljonen (FIN)  - invited by Sfakiotes Residency Programme

1 month, February 1. – 28.

2. Shachindra Dass & Heli Hietala (IND-FIN)

1 month March 7.- April 4.

April  5. – 17. – closed

3. Riku Mäkinen, Ari Lahdenmäki (FIN)

2 weeks, April 18.- May 2.

4. Marika Orenius & Jesper Toss (FIN-SWE)

2,5 weeks May 4. – 21.

3. Lasse Lecklin / Euphoria Borealis – group (FIN)

2 weeks May 22. – June 5

6. Orvokki Halme & Jerstin Crosby, (FIN-USA)

2 weeks 8.-22. June

Midsummer – July – closed until 3.8.

7. Riikka Maria Pelo (FIN)

1 month, August 3. -31.

8. Teemu Kivikangas & Varpu Rantala (FIN)

2 weeks, September 1.-15.

9. Stephane Querrec & Anu Pennanen (FRA-GER/FIN)

2 weeks, September 17. – October 2.

10. Nina Lassila, Lina Persson & Mari Lagerquist (FIN-SWE)

3 weeks, October 2. – 21.

11. Johanna Fredriksson (FIN)

2 weeks, October 22. – November 4.

12. Hanne Ivars & Antti Keitilä (FIN)

2 weeks,  November 5. -18.

13. Mika Pekkola & Suvi Ylämäki (FIN)

2 weeks, November 19 – December 3.

December  4. – 31. – closed

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On Reserve (in case of cancellation):

1. Eeva-Liisa Puhakka (FIN-GER)

2. Mateusz Pozar (SWE)

3. Jenni Rutanen (FIN)

4. Jenni Hiltunen & Paavo Lehtonen

Jarno Vesala & Katri Mononen (FIN)

5. Pilvari Pirtola (FIN)

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THANK YOU FOR YOUR APPLICATIONS! THE APPLICATION TIME HAS NOW ENDED. THE RESULTS WILL BE PUBLISHED HERE ON SAT, 2nd OCTOBER.