TIDAL ArtS residency artist Clara Jo has carried out preliminary research in the Turku Archipelago for her year-long residency project, Living Archive of Water, exploring the relationships between water, ecological memory and collective storytelling.
Hosted by CAA Contemporary Art Archipelago, the Turku Archipelago residency brings artistic practice into dialogue with the communities, researchers and environments of the Baltic Sea.
Clara’s first site visit was supported by two TIDAL ArtS kick-off events. An Interspecies Assembly brought Clara together with scientists and was hosted by the Centre for Sustainable Ocean Science (SOS) at Åbo Akademi University in Turku. A Co-Creation Workshop with local community members was co-organised with the Archipelago Sea Biosphere Reserve and held at the Archipelago Centre Korpoström on the island of Korpo.
Clara also visited the Archipelago Research Institute of the University of Turku in Seili, the Åbo Akademi research station in Korpoström and Utö, the furthest inhabited island in the outer archipelago.
“I’m eager to learn more about the archipelago’s vast network connected through history, communities, flows, and unique textures, especially in feeding back into the questions and forms of the work both above and underwater.”
Building a living archive of the Baltic Sea
Living Archive of Water explores water as a living co-narrator of ecological memory and collective storytelling. Through the project, Clara will investigate lived relationships with the Baltic Sea, from daily practices, currents and seasonal rhythms to emotional and cultural connections with the water.
The project moves between past, present and future: listening to memories shaped by maritime life and language, responding to challenges including pollution, warming waters and species shifts, and imagining resilient ocean futures rooted in reciprocity and community-led stewardship.
Together, these layers will contribute to a living archive that continues to evolve throughout the residency.
About the TIDAL ArtS residencies
The TIDAL ArtS residency programme supports year-long artist residencies across four major river and sea basins in Europe.
CAA Contemporary Art Archipelago hosts the Turku Archipelago residency in the Baltic-North Sea basin from May 2026 to April 2027, alongside residencies in the Azores Archipelago, Danube River and Venice Lagoon.
Through collaboration with communities, scientists, and local partners, participating artists develop work that inspires engagement and action for Europe’s ocean and waters.
TIDAL ArtS is supported by the European Commission’s Horizon programme.