BELOW ZERO FINNISH ART PRIZE 2023

Nastja Säde Rönkkö has been selected as the winner of the Below Zero Finnish art prize

This is the third time the prize has been awarded. Rönkkö will create a new moving image work, to be uniquely installed in London and Mänta.  ‘I feel very honoured and grateful to have been selected to receive the Below Zero 2023 prize. It feels particularly special because it allows me to continue making experimental, multi-disciplinary works in London, a city that was my home for over 10 years’, said Rönkkö.

The prize is worth £15000 and includes materials and a mentored 4-6 week residency leading to exhibition, with Beaconsfield in London. During the residency, the recipient will realise her project for the gallery. In addition, the Serlachius Museums in Mänta will provide the winner with an exhibition and a residency.

Rönkkö describes her practice as including video, performance, installation, participation, internet and text; investigating relationships between the digital era, power, humanity and the future of our planet.

‘Nastja Säde Rönkkö managed to raise the level of her fascinating project considerably in the two-stage competition. It is great that we had the opportunity to have a two-stage competition, which allows the artists to reflect a little more deeply on the content and implementation of their projects’, says Pauli Sivonen, Director of Serlachius Museums.

‘This third iteration of Below Zero seems more important than ever; to reinforce cultural relationships that are able to jump over physical and human geographies of distance and diversity. We look forward to collaborating on a new and dynamic art project by Nastja Säde Rönkkö, drawing on London’s rich resources, and are delighted to be working once again with our long-term partner Finnish Institute in UK + Ireland, and expanding the project with our new partner in Finland, Serlachius Museums’, say Naomi Siderfin and David Crawforth, Co-directors of Beaconsfield.

 

Press Release Below Zero 2023 winner

TIEDOTE Nastja Säde Rönkkö Below Zero -taidepalkinnon voittaja

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Our warm thanks to all those artists who applied to the Below Zero Finnish Art Prize 2023 open call. The process of selection was, as usual,  exacting and democratic. The  jury shortlisted:

Flis Holland
Felicia Honkasalo
Raisa Raekallio and Misha del Val
Nastja Säde Rönkkö
Noora Schroderus

Shortlisted artists receive £500 to develop their proposal over one month, after which the jury meet again.
The final Below Zero 2023 awardee will be announced on 24 June 2022.

Below Zero, the unique UK based contemporary art prize for Finnish artists emerging on the international scene, returns to Beaconsfield London in association with the Finnish Institute in the UK and Ireland. We are excited to announce our collaboration with Serlachius Museums, one of Finland’s most important cultural institutions.

Open call – 9  February 2022
Application deadline –11 April 2022

London commission – 4 to 6 week residency followed by solo exhibition between January and April 2023

Online application portal 2025: APPLY HERE 

The Below Zero award includes

  • 2023 residency and exhibition mentored by Beaconsfield with production costs of up to £15,000 and including artist’s fee/accommodation/subsistence/travel costs
  • 2024 solo exhibition of the Below Zero commission at Serlachius Museums, Finland.

The Below Zero prize is open to Finnish artists who have studied to degree level either in Finland or the UK and may be resident anywhere in the world. Selection is focused on artists who the jury feel would most benefit from a major UK commission and its solo exhibition in Finland.

Below Zero 2023 Jury

David Crawforth, Co-director Beaconsfield London, Karoliina Korpilahti, Programme Director Arts, Finnish Institute UK+Ireland, Naomi Siderfin, Co-director, Beaconsfield London, Pauli Sivonen, Director, Serlachius Museums Finland, Hannele Tilles, Independent Curator.

Below Zero offers something different. Beaconsfield commissions are unique in their collaborative nature. Mentored residencies support artists to be brave and take risks. An objective of this creative support is to make the excitement of innovative practice accessible to all: an ambition that matches the founding principle of Serlachius Museums – that culture should not only be the privilege of those in capital cities. The prizewinner is offered a solo exhibition of the London commission at Serlachius Museums in 2024 (costs covered) with the option of a residency in Mänttä.

Timeline:

  • 9 February 2022: application portal opens
  • 11 April 2022: submission deadline for open call proposals closes at 16.00 UK / 18.00 Finland
  • 6 May 2022: shortlist announced and invited to develop a full proposal (compensated by fee)
  • 6 June 2022: submission deadline for shortlist proposals closes at 16.00 UK / 18.00 Finland
  • 14-21 June 2022: shortlisted artists interviews
  • 24 June 2022: Below Zero 2023 winner announced
  • January–March 2023: London residency and exhibition
  • 2024 Exhibition at Serlachius Museums with optional residency.

For further 2023 information please email Karoliina.Korpilahti@fininst.uk

BELOW ZERO FINNISH ART AWARD 2025

Application Portal