Art alumni residency program is a pilot project in a cooperation with Novia Bildkonst
https://www.novia.fi/utbildning/utbildningsutbud/konst-och-kultur/bildkonstnar-yh-bildkonst
This residency program aim to support the artists after their graduation to find their way to work life as professional artists. The art students where picked in the program while they where finishing their studies and during their stay they will get professional mentorship given by a personal mentor from the artists at Malakta. With the help of a personal mentor artists build up their stay to work with topics that interest them, this can be anything from building up a new art project, trying out new ways of doing art, getting to know the ways Malakta work with community art and to apply for grants for the future works. During the residency program the artists will give out an open artist talk for the public.
This pilot project is a part of Malaktas residency programs. The program is open to apply and running all year around.
Tack till finansiärerna: Kulturfonden, Frans Henriksson Testamentsfond / Undervisnings- och kulturministeriet / Harry Schauman stiftelse / Eugène, Elisabeth och Birgit Nygréns stiftelse.
Meet the artists SEPTEMBER 2025 Artist Talk torsdag 25.9 klo 18-20 på Malakta
JOSEFIN BORGENFALK (B. 1995, SWEDEN)
Is a Photographer and visual artist based in Örebro, Sweden. In 2025 she completed her bachelor’s degree in photography and visual arts at Novia University of Applied Sciences in Jakobstad, Finland. Her work often explores spirituality and related themes, drawing inspiration from the elements of nature (fire, earth, air and water) and folklore. Her primary medium is photography, and she works with both analog and digital processes. She also works with video, illustration, text, and performance. Her artistic style is characterized by vibrant colors and digital noise. The work inhabits the borderland between the visible and the invisible. Intiution and expermentation is important for her.
For her bachelor project she made a photographic art book titled Blue Crystal Fire, which traces her personal journey through spirituality— from childhood to the present—witchcraft, and the fear of losing one’s mind.
Josefin is participating in the Art Alumni residency program at Malakta in cooperation with Novia (Bildkonst YH, Jakobstad) during September 2025. Art: Josefin Borgenfalk, 2025.
Art by Josefin Borgenfalk
Pihla Väisänen (b. 2001, Kuopio) is a visual artist and a musician based in Kuopio, Finland. She received her Bachelor’s degree in Visual arts at Novia University of Applied Sciences in Jakobstad, did an exchange semester at at Art Academy of Latvia, and also studied at AhlamanEdu Kuvataidelinja.
In her work, she explores how cultural heritage plays a part in the creative processes, drawing on symbols, rituals and narratives as a means of expression. She works multidisciplinary with techniques including video, embroidery and sound. By combining elements in an experimental and spatial way, she creates a space to examine themes like finnish folklore, feminism and cultural memory extensively.
For her last project “Electronic Riga Choir”, she made a video work about two young people who shake a car back to life. In the work, the car is a dreamlike object in which technology meets defiance and the forces of nature. Rebellion and destruction bring soul and the possibility of movement to the lifeless machine.
Pihla is participating in the Art Alumni residency program at Malakta in cooperation with Novia (Bildkonst YH, Jakobstad) during September 2025. Art: Pihla Väisänen, 2025.
Art by Pihla Väisänen