Photo North has a long history in Nordic collaboration among art and culture organizations. Executive director of Photo North, Darja Zaitsev, artists and working group advisors Elina Juopperi and Kati Leinonen, and director Joonas Martikainen from Silence Festival travelled to North Norway and Kirkenes in late February to take part in Barents Spektakel festival organized by Pikene på Broen.
In 2025 the festival theme was Remote Control. It stated: ”To encourage people to move to and stay in the north, there have been several political measures, such as creating new jobs, offering decentralized education, lowering taxes, reducing student loans, providing free childcare, and even suggesting an extra week of vacation. When Norway’s regional policies began in the 1960s with the slogan “by og land – hand i hand” (city and countryside, hand in hand), the goal was to have people live and work close to nature’s resources like soil, forests, fish, and minerals.” The festival asked: What makes non-urban areas valuable? What attracts people to these places? How do remote locations foster art and culture? Who decides where to draw the boundaries between the periphery and center?
In addition to visiting Barents Spektakel, Photo North’s aim was also to connect and develop its professional network across the borders with an emphasis on Northern partners in Tromsø. Photo North visited Tromsø Kunstförening’s exhibition We Circle in Darkness, Consumed by Light and was then invited by Polar Film Lab to curate a screening program for Silver Record festival in May 2025. In Tromsø, Photo North also connected with Kurant Visningsrom, an artist-run space for young and emerging artists established in 2009, as well as Perspektivet Museum which provides knowledge and fosters curiosity about what it means to be a person with a northern perspective.
For Photo North, the project offered a great opportunity for developing professional networks, to conduct artistic and curatorial research for its Oulu 2026 European Cultural Capital project, as well as to plan Photo North’s 40th year celebration in 2027 with future Nordic partners.
This project was produced and implemented with the financial assistance of the European Union. The views expressed herein can in no way be taken to reflect the official opinion of the European Union.
