Culture in Finland

Finnish cultural policy addresses creativity, the status of artists, the network of regional cultural services, multiculturalism, international cooperation and cultural exportation.

Culture is supported by public funding and the copyright compensation system. The foremost source of financing for culture in the central government is the Ministry of Education. The culture and art appropriations in the 2006 state beget total some 360 million euros. Most of it (c. 85%) is allocated to national cultural institutions and local authorities.

The remit of the Ministry of Education comprises national cultural institutions; publicly funded and subsidised museums, theatres and orchestras; local cultural provision; and subsidised organisational and civic activities.

The cultural provision in Finland is abundant and Finns are active users of cultural services. Altogether 52 theatres, 25 orchestras and 132 museums receive government funding. The annual number of museum visitors is five million; the National Opera and orchestras have an annual audience of over 900,000 and the annual number of theatre-goers is 2.5 million.

Cultural policy

The objectives of cultural policy relate to creativity, cultural diversity and equity. The aim is to realise cultural rights and ensure access for all residents in Finland to art and cultural services. Another aim is to secure a stable financial base for culture. Cultural policy is a significant factor in the implementation of welfare, regional and innovation policies.
Art also has an intrinsic value. Cultural heritage and interaction between cultures underpin civilisation and promote plurality.
Art and cultural services must be accessible to all, irrespective of their place of residence and financial status. In order to ensure equality and equity, the Government supports and develops conditions conducive to creative activity and the operation of art and cultural institutions.
Cultural policy aims are realised by means of different programmes, projects, steering and management of the sector and financing.
Cultural policy laid down in the Government Programme promotes the diversity of arts and culture, rich cultural heritage, cultural institutions and services, and creativity.
The aims set in the Government Programme are:

Cultural policy lines, programmes and projects

The aims set for cultural policy in various strategies and documents are implemented by means of action programmes and projects.
A creativity strategy was devised to implement the aims set in the Government Programme. According to the strategy, creativity has to do with self-expression, every-day life, creative professions, working life, education and training, communality, the state of culture, operational environments, the creative economy and innovation policy.
The development of cultural exportation is one of the priorities in the Government Programme and the Government's globalisation strategy. It entails devising a cultural exportation programme, constructing a service network, boosting bilateral cultural exchanges, implementing Finland's Russia Programme, and assessing the economic and ethical impact of culture.
The development of the field is informed by the art and artist policy programme and the Government decision-in-principle on art and artist policy. There is a separate programme for promoting children's culture.
The premises for information society development are outlined in the Ministry's strategy Culture in Information Society. The stated aim is a comprehensive and easily accessible service provision in arts and culture.
The Russia Programme in Art and Culture was devised by the Ministry to promote cultural partnership between cultural actors in the northern regions and between Finland and the Russian Federation.
Sustainable development has economic, ecological, social and cultural dimensions. Players in the cultural field are encouraged to develop action and projects promoting sustainable development by cultural means.

Cultural administration

Parliament passes legislation pertaining to culture and decides the extent of state funding to culture.
The Ministry of Education creates overall conditions for culture and for participation in culture and is responsible for strategic development in the cultural sector. The Ministry drafts cultural legislation and prepares relevant budget proposals.
As part of the Government, the Ministry develops cultural policy and administers international cooperation in the field. At the Ministry, matters relating to the promotion of arts and culture come under the Department for Cultural, Sport and Youth Policy.
The cultural sector at the Ministry comprises national cultural and art institutions, such as publicly subsidised museums, theatres, orchestras; local cultural services; subsidised associations; other organisational and civic activity in the art and cultural field; and cultural exportation.

Advisory bodies

Attached to the Ministry of Education are nine councils responsible for different art forms and their umbrella organisation, the Arts Council of Finland. For regional development, there are one or more regional art councils in each province.
The Arts Council of Finland and the nine art councils award grants, state subsidies and state awards.

Agencies and institutions in the cultural sector

Apart from the art council system, the cultural sector administered by the Ministry of Education includes the National Gallery, the Governing Body of Suomenlinna (an island fortress off Helsinki) the National Board of Antiquities, Celia Library for the Visually Impaired, the Finnish Film Archive, the Finnish Board of Film Classification, and the Appeal Board of Film Classification.
The National Board of Antiquities is responsible for antiquities and historical monuments and relevant research and for the overall direction and supervision of the museum system. As well as being a cultural and research institute, it takes care of matters relating to licensing, supervision and state subsidies. Other museum agencies are the National Gallery, which is the central art museum, and the Governing Body of Suomenlinna.
There are two agencies in the film and audiovisual field. The Finnish Film Archive is responsible for storing, documenting and restoring Finnish films and videos, for promoting film research and for diffusing film knowledge. The Board of Film Classification inspects and classifies films, videos and other AV programmes.

Public funding for culture

Culture is supported by public funding and the copyright compensation system. The Ministry of Education is the foremost source of cultural funding. In the 2006 state budget, the art and cultural appropriations totalled 360 million euros, 52% of which comes from the pools and lottery funds.
Most of the funding (c. 85%) is allocated to the national art and cultural institutions.
Discretionary grants are allocated for art promotion through associations representing different art forms, art and cultural centres and art information centres.
Creativity is promoted by means of an artist grant scheme, which includes grants awarded by the art councils and copyright remunerations distributed by different copyright organisations.
The Ministry of Education sector is a major recipient of EU Structural Funds co-financing in Finland, and the Ministry is also an central player in regional development projects. The EU also has important programmes in the field of culture.

Art and culture

Finnish cultural life is characterised by a wealth of cultural institutions and a comprehensive institutional network. Measures are taken to encourage cooperation between institutions. The provision of culture is abundant and in active use. There are also a wide range of activities arranged by civic organisations.
Each year there are over 130 major cultural events in Finland, which have a public of nearly two million. There are some 70 cultural centres which arrange different cultural and art events.
The number of film-goers, especially the audiences for Finnish films, has been growing rapidly. On average, every Finn sees 1.3 films each year, which is still clearly below the average EU figure. The games industry has been gaining on the film industry in volume. Finnish media art is well-known abroad and appreciated as interesting and different.
Finns are the most avid readers in Europe and visit libraries more often than other Europeans. Some 12,000 titles of Finnish and translated literature are published each year. One third of them are fiction, poetry and children's and youth books, the rest is non-fiction. Amateur writers have a wide choice of courses and competitions.
Almost one in two Finns visit art exhibitions or art museums according to the Statistics Finland. Concerts are also fairly popular.
In 2003 Finland produced 2,600 recordings and the music exports exceeded 20 million euros.
For a country of small population, Finland has many theatres. There are over 130 professional theatres, which attract an audience of 3.5 million. There are 11 dance theatres entitled to state subsidies, many independent dance troupes and hundreds of amateur theatre groups.

Museums and cultural heritage in the state administration

The Ministry's Department for Cultural, Sport and Youth Policy is responsible for matters relating to the museum system and cultural heritage in the central government. Cultural environments come primarily under the Ministry of the Environment.
Expert services and research relating to the protection of cultural sites are provided by the National Board of Antiquities, which is also in charge of the overall management and development of the museum system under the Ministry of Education. The National Board compiles annual museum statistics and develops the museum field together with the museum system.

Finnish Museums

There are three national museums. The National Museum, which operates in conjunction with the National Board of Antiquities, the Museum of Natural History, which is a University of Helsinki institution and the National Gallery. In addition, there are 13 national specialist museums in different fields (cultural history, traffic, architecture and design) which perform duties relating to storage, research and exhibition.
Finland has 20 regional museums and 16 regional art museums, extending the network of museums to the whole country. They develop and steer museum activities in their regions. There are altogether 163 professionally run museums responsible for a total of 321 museum sites and locations. Some 53% of museums are maintained by local authorities.
The Finnish Museums Association is the central organisation for Finnish museums. The Finnish museum and cultural heritage field also interacts closely with various international organisations, notably the International Council of Museums (ICOM); the International Centre for the Study of the Preservation and Restoration of Cultural Property (ICCROM); the International Council on Monuments and Sites (ICOMOS); UNESCO; and the Council of Europe.

Facts and figures

According to annual museum statistics, the total museum expenditure in Finland was about 147 million euros in 2004. The local authorities and the government contribute equal shares (c. 40%) towards the financing of the museum system. The rest of the funding comes from the proceeds of museum activities and from sponsors.
In addition to the statutory aid, the Ministry of Education grants discretionary subsidies for the renovation of museum buildings, for ICT projects and the digitisation of museum collections. It also grants state indemnities for art exhibitions. A number of museum projects have been co-financed by the EU Structural Fund. Additionally there are several smaller museums which receive discretionary subsidies from the National Board of Antiquities.
In 2004 Finnish museums had a total of 1,700 full-time employees, half of whom had professional training (researchers, conservators, photographers, etc). The total collection of cultural history museums and specialised museums was over 4.4 million items. Art collections contained 287,000 works. There were 1,216 non-permanent exhibitions, and museums had nearly 4.8 million visitors, which makes 0.9 visits per inhabitant.