Learning Materials

Through textile deconstruction, installation, and field recordings, Krišjānis Elviks explored rage, power, and history during the Learning Materials residency in Suomenlinna. Moving between military infrastructure, queer imagination, and more-than-human encounters, Elviks examines nationalism, the attention economy, and the boundaries that shape our relationships with one another and the environment.

During her Learning Materials residency, Paula Zvane explored the connections between materials, mythologies and the environment through sculptural experiments, painting, and storytelling inspired by the island’s landscapes and foraged materials.

As part of their Learning Materials residency and an ongoing material research, Aistė Gaidilionytė and Kamilė Vasiliauskaitė travelled to the Äänekoski bioproduct mill in central Finland where they explored the industrial processes through which wood is transformed into a wide range of products and reflect on material flows, industrial extraction, and the often-invisible infrastructures behind everyday materials.

Announcing Learning Materials artists in residence 

We're looking for three Baltic and/or Nordic (excl. Finland) artists for 3-month-long funded residencies with a focus on on socially engaged, process-orientated and material-driven practices. 

Bioart Society will collaborate with HIAP, TUO TUO, Koynē Program, and SWAMP: Art Material Swap and Waste Management Point on a new residency programme in 2026.