TIDAL ArtS

Turku Archipelago
8.-20.6.2026

The TIDAL ArtS residency artist Clara Jo visited Turku Archipelago in June to begin their field research. The first site visit of the residency was supported by two kick off events organised by TIDAL ArtS: Interspecies Assembly with scientists hosted by Centre for Sustainable Ocean Science at Åbo Akademi University in Turku (10.8.) and Co-Creation Workshop with local community members co-organised with the Archipelago Sea Biosphere Reserve at the Archipelago Centre Korpoström on the island of Korpo (16.8.). The artist visited also the Archipelago Research Institute of Turku University in Seili, Åbo Akademi research station in Korpoström, and Utö, the furthest inhabited island in the outer archipelago.

Clara Jo’s residency project “Living Archive of Water” will explore water as a living co-narrator of ecological memory and collective storytelling. The project attends to lived relationships with the Baltic Sea—daily practices, currents, seasonal rhythms, and emotional ties. It unfolds across three interconnected temporal registers: listening to the past through memories shaped by maritime life and language; attending to present urgencies such as pollution, warming waters, species shifts, and the erosion of intangible cultural heritage under climate pressures; and imagining resilient ocean futures grounded in reciprocity and community-led stewardship. The three layers will form a living archive, which will grow over time.

The TIDAL ArtS residency programme supports year-long artist residencies across four major river and sea basins in Europe. CAA hosts the residency taking place in the Turku Archipelago, in the Baltic-North Sea basin from May 2026 until April 2027. The other residency locations are Azores Archipelago, Danube River and Venice Lagoon. The residencies empower artists to collaborate with communities and scientists to create artworks that inspire action for our ocean and waters. TIDAL ArtS is supported by the European Commission’s Horizon programme.