AARK (Archipelago artist residency Korppo) 10 years – Me as an artist 10 years!

It has been 10 years, so let's celebrate it. Time I have spent in different Islands, especially at Aark has been very intimate and meaningful times for me <3

AARK 10 DIALOG

10.10.2025 - 26.10.2025

.https://aark.fi

Gallery Aski

Turku, Taiteen talo

https://www.galleriaaski.com

AARK Artist Residency – Spaces of Dialogue Between Art & NatureThe international artist residency on the island of Korppoo is celebrating its 10th anniversary with the exhibition AARK 10 Dialog! Alongside the exhibition, a few discussion events will also be organized.AARK is an international artist residency that offers a space for stillness, exploration, and dialogue with nature. Located on the island of Korpo in the Finnish Archipelago, surrounded by sea and forest, it provides an open environment for artistic work and meaningful encounters.

Artists:Maria Ahmed, UK, Brian Cody, UK, Gill Akasaka, UK & Jaakko Autio FIN, Katya Yehorova, Olga Zaremba, Nickita Tsoy, Oksana Mykhanko, UKR. Marjolein Witte NL, Mark Nixon, UK & Viliina Koivisto FIN, Seah Heikes & Mykel Boyd and Chris Sheridan, US. Susan Mabin New Zealand, Patty Leino, Scotland, Dana Neilson CAN. Lilli Haapala, Ville Laitinen, Veera Rossi, FIN

Curated by Renja Leino

At the heart of the residency is dialogue - between nature, fellow artists, and the local community. It also manifests in silence, shared presence and the rhythms of everyday life. AARK invites artists to be present, not only in their own practice, but also in relation to others – to share and to respond.

This space fosters interdisciplinary encounters that nourish both personal and collective creativity.At AARK, the artistic process is seen as a living relationship with the world. Dialogue becomes a bridge – creating opportunities to engage with ecological and creative networks. Deep cultural exchange can happen when artists with different nationalities meet. Many artists come back to continue their residency which deepens their artistic work and their relation to the archipelago. Unnumerous friendships and networks have been established, even some couples!

Founders & director of AARK are artist Renja Leino together with her island man Benkku Andersson. They still have a strong vision about this as a year-round residency activity located in the former ferry staff family house from 1960, by Retais ferry shore in Korpo. We cooperate with Turku Arts Academy and HIAP Ukrainian Solidarity Residencies

AARK residency will celebrate its 10th anniversary. It is also for me 10th anniversary as an artist! Aark was my first residency experience, as I stayed there one month in fall 2015 <3 Here is some pictures from past years.

Some thoughts from those times here:

https://aark.fi/searching-for-utopia/

"Spending time in artist residencies on islands made me stronger and smaller at the same time. I feel like I am somehow nearer the truth when I spend time in a natural environment. It is like a meditation, thoughts come and go, like clouds in the sky. I have time to be with myself and with my thoughts, being inside of my own truth. I miss that feeling, and often I lose it in the city."

.https://aark.fi

more information coming soon.