11.3.2025

Do you need space to rehearse or develop you idea?

The Theatre Museum is Finland’s national museum for performing arts (theatre, dance, opera, circus, performance) and is located at the Cable Factory in Helsinki. Each year, the Theatre Museum offers two space residencies for performing arts professionals or working groups. Residencies take place in January and August. Applications for the August 2025 residency period are now open.

We offer you and your project space, technical resources, and a supportive working community. During the residency, you may complete a work or engage in other activities involving audience interaction.

The August 2025 residency runs from August 11–31. The period can be shorter; exact dates will be agreed upon with the selected artist/group. The space is the Theatre Museum’s Maneesi: a round area, partly walled and partly curtained, near the museum entrance.

If you have a project that needs rehearsal space, present your idea and send your application by April 6, 2025.

Theatre Museum space residency

When?

August 11–31, 2025

Who?

Performing arts professionals or small groups.
Museum employees are not eligible to apply.

What?

The museum provides the Manege space, rehearsal and performance time, technical equipment, project publicity, staff support, and a working community during the residency.
The museum expects audience-open or audience-interactive activities, such as open rehearsals, discussions, or workshops. A performance may be completed, but the residency can also aim for other outcomes. The residency will be communicated through the museum’s channels and documented in the museum archives in an agreed manner.

The art project must relate to one or more of the museum’s collection areas. The residency takes place in museum premises, partly during opening hours, which may set limits on the type of project. As the same space is occasionally used for other activities, exact rehearsal times will be agreed upon together.

Space: Maneesi. Round, non-soundproof area with a semicircular fixed wall and a movable curtain wall. Floor: concrete. Area: 96 m².
Audience seating: Loose chairs.
Technical equipment: Projection on fixed wall (width approx. 10 m). Max width 5264 px, height 1110 px. PA system, wireless microphones (Sennheiser xsw-65). Lighting: exhibition spots and LED fixtures, ETC Colour Source lighting desk.

How to apply?

Send a free-form application by email to tiedotus@teatterimuseo.fi. Attach an idea paper (max two pages) describing the project, how it fits the museum space, the expected outcome, and the type of audience interaction during the residency. Include your CV.

Deadline: April 6, 2025.
Inquiries: tiedotus@teatterimuseo.fi

The Theatre Museum’s residency program began in 2022. Each year, two artists or groups have taken over museum spaces and brought their projects to museum visitors:
2022: choreographer Favela Vera Ortiz and musician/beatboxer Venla Ilona Blom
2023: director/filmmaker Vilma Tihilä and dancer/choreographer Arttu Peltoniemi, plus Vilus.art group: Vilhelmiina Sinervo, Ines Kakkonen, and Mercedes Krapovickas
2024: KÖTT collective: Anni Kaila, Karoliina Loimaala, and Anna Stenberg, and performance/sound artist Juha Valkeapää
2025: Antero Kemppi and Jere Kolehmainen