Narva Art Residency Celebrates 10 Years on September 5

The Narva Art Residency (NART) has turned 10. The art residency, which integrates contemporary art awareness, communities and artists on both the local and international art scene, celebrates the anniversary of a decade of art and cultural creation, looking back and forward. NART is visited by both local and foreign artists, well-known and unknown representatives of cultural and other spheres of life. For many, the experience at NART has been unique and broadening. Zimbabwean artist Zacharah Magasa made the first flight of her life to arrive in Estonia to experience her first snow here. The visit to Narva by the President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen and the then Prime Minister of the Government of the Republic, today’s High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Vice-President of the European Commission, Kaja Kallas, and the high-profile event introduced the Narva Art Residency to a new audience around the world. “For ten years, the Narva Art Residency has been an open house on the border of Europe, between tradition and experiment. For the Academy of Arts, it is a place where dialogues create new meanings in our cultural landscape. Congratulations on the anniversary!” says Anne Pikkov, Vice-Rector for Academic Affairs of the Estonian Academy of Arts (EKA) and member of the NART board. On September 5, the residency house and NART’s future plans will be introduced on site. The anniversary coincides with the Station Narva music festival taking place on the same weekend. During the weekend, guests can enjoy several events organized by NART, such as the Narva Venice Annuale, or the Day of the Single-Tree Pilot, with boat rides. The ceremonial opening of a work by a Ukrainian sculptor to the city’s residents, a harvest party at the Kreenholm community garden, and house tours will take place. The anniversary will be preceded by a discussion at the EKA Science Café on September 4 about the changing roles of religious and industrial buildings in contemporary Europe. “NART is one of the places that inspired us to start the Station Narva festival. An environment where historical architecture, art, creativity, courage and the will to do things together create a feeling that anything is possible”, says Helen Sildna, director of Station Narva. “Over the past ten years, NART has hosted around 140 artists. Most of them have stayed in Narva for up to two months. Some residencies have been weeks long, but the longest residency has been four months. By 2025, NART will have become known worldwide,” says Johanna Rannula, director of the residency. “Art residents have come to the Narva art residency from all over. Of course, there are guests from the Baltics and Finland and from different corners of Europe, but also from other continents, for example, Chile, Colombia, South Korea, Japan, Bangladesh, Mexico, India, South Africa, Pakistan, Brazil”, adds Rannula. The Finno-Ugric creative residency, which ended in August 2025, received 131 applications, which indicates the residency’s continued immense popularity. The Narva Art Residency, a 130-year-old neo-Gothic former Kreenholm factory director’s villa, is a vibrant and successful example of private-public cooperation. When Tõnis Saadoja’s highly successful exhibition “Architectural Photography with a Little Boy” in 2014 gave the impetus to create the residency, a founding agreement was signed in 2015, under which Narva Gate OÜ supports the building, the Ministry of Culture provides operating support, and the Estonian Academy of Arts contributes content, advice, and energy. Starting in 2022, summer residencies will take place at the Narva Venetian Embassy, which marks NART’s focus and orientation towards the Narva community. More and more residencies are supported by partners or are taking place thanks to project support, which means that more artists are also receiving a creative stipend, travel support, and support for the production of an artwork while in residency.

NART 10th anniversary program

https://www.nart.ee/et/nart-10

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