The 2024 Mirjam Helin competition will take place on 3–12 June as follows:
Preliminary round 3–6 June at 11:00 and 18:00 The details of the contestants will be available after the order of performance draw on 1 June.
Semifinals 7–8 June at 11:00 and 18:00 Venue: Sibelius Academy concert hall, Pohjoinen Rautatienkatu 9, 00100 Helsinki
Final concert 12 June at 18:30 Six finalists and the Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra led by Sir Mark Elder Venue: Musiikkitalo concert hall, Mannerheimintie 13 A, 00100 Helsinki
Single tickets (from €17) and ticket packages (from €57) are on sale at Ticketmaster, as well as the Musiikkitalo box office. Single tickets can also be purchased at the door before each event.
All concerts will be streamed live on Yle Areena and will be available as recordings on our website. Streaming links will be published soon. Please note that the time zone in Helsinki is UTC+02:00.
Singing is for everyone – and so is the side programme of the competition
If you plan to attend the competition in Helsinki, make sure that you don’t miss the related programme in and around Musiikkitalo as well as on Espa Stage, between 10–12 June. On Monday 10 June at 15:00, there will be a masterclass taught by baritone Luca Pisaroni, and on Tuesday 11 June, there will be another by soprano Dawn Upshaw. In addition, there will be concerts, discussions, singalongs and opera karaoke.
Admission to the side programme is free of charge.
Maria Ylipää will host the Mirjam Helin competition in 2024. Photo: Petri Summanen
The competition will be hosted by the Finnish actress/singer Maria Ylipää, known for her numerous roles in musical theatre, film and TV. Ylipää is a versatile performer, at home on stage as a vocal soloist with jazz bands, big bands and symphony orchestras alike.
The source languages of the nine new books to be translated include Spanish, Ukrainian and German, and, as a first for this grant, Greek and Romanian – among others. Two of the grants went to dramatic texts in book form.
The Finnish Cultural Foundation created the Translating world literature into Finnish grant in 2022. Targeted at publishers, the funding aims to make world literature available in Finnish – particularly, works from source languages that are less frequently translated into Finnish.
The sum granted in 2024 was 100,000 euros. The total to be awarded over ten years, 1 million euros, will allow for one hundred high-quality works from around the world to be made available in Finland. A list of the books published until now can be found at www.skr.fi/maailmankirjallisuus.
Nine new books
Finnish translations of contemporary Greek literature are very rare, but the grant will allow the Enostone publishing company to release a translation of Η Άκρα Ταπείνωση (The Ultimate Humiliation) by Greek author Rhea Galanaki. Galanaki is a long-standing, highly regarded, award-winning writer, whose works have been translated into fifteen languages. The Ultimate Humiliation portrays the uneasy period sparked by the Greek financial crisis with humanity and wisdom.
Siltala will publish a Finnish translation of German author Daniel Kehlmann’s novel Lichtspiel. This psychologically astute, masterfully narrated story is situated in the world of film and propaganda in the Third Reich, also touching upon Hollywood and its cult of celebrity.
Sammakko will publish the novelІнтернат (The Orphanage) by Ukrainian author Serhiy Zhadan. Writer and rock star Zhadan is renowned not only in his homeland but around the world, and The Orphanage has already become something of a European classic. It describes the war-torn reality of a bleak and chaotic city, based on experiences of the war waged in Eastern Ukraine since 2014.
Two dramatic texts will be published in book format. Poesia received a grant for the translation of the Moldovan play Simfonia progresului (Symphony of Progress), which is about Eastern European migrant workers. The documentary-style play examines the treatment of these workers in Western Europe during the Covid-19 pandemic, at the same time shedding light on the problems related to seasonal work in Finnish agriculture from the perspective of a Moldovan picker. Another play, the autofictional Angabe der Person by Austrian Nobel Prize winner Elfriede Jelinek will bereleased in Finnish by Teatterin Uusi Alkukirjasto.
Extensive efforts to support reading
The Finnish Cultural Foundation has long been working to encourage Finns to read more, providing millions of euros in funding to the nation’s literary field. Efforts made by the foundation in recent years have included encouraging parents of small children to read aloud, expanding the book selections of school libraries and making books in plain language available to lower secondary schools.
The grant that encourages publishers to have world literature translated into Finnish forms a part of this continuum, providing adult readers with access to books translated from languages that very few Finns can read in the original.
Recipients of the Translating world literature into Finnish grant, 2024
Aviador Kustannus Oy, for translating and publishing the novel Cometierra by Dolores Reyes (Argentina)
Moebius, for translating and publishing the novel Lacapacidad de amar del señor Königsberg by Juan Jacinto Muñoz Rengel (Spain)
Kustannusosakeyhtiö Sammakko,for translating and publishing the novelІнтернатby Serhiy Zhadan (Ukraine)
Kustannusosakeyhtiö Siltala, for translating and publishing the novel Lichtspiel by Daniel Kehlmann (Germany)
Osuuskunta Poesia, for translating and publishing the playSimfoniaprogresului(Moldova) about Eastern European migrant workers
Oy Enostone Ltd, for translating and promoting Gelos, part two in the climate change trilogy by Ana Filomena Amaral (Portugal)
Oy Enostone Ltd, for translating and promoting Η Άκρα Ταπείνωση by Rhea Galanaki (Greece)
Tammi (Werner Söderström Oy), for translating and promoting the novel Efter åndemaneren by Kim Leine (Denmark)
Teattering Uusi Alkukirjasto ry, for translating and publishing the autofiction Angabe der Person by Elfriede Jelinek (Austria)
Read more
Works funded by previous rounds of the grant, which have already found their way into Finnish readers’ hands, include Haava by Oksana Vasjakina, En pelkää mitään by Beatrice Salvioni and Maailman kauhea vihreys by Benjamín Labatut. All the books published so far under the grant can be found on our website. (in Finnish)
Alaiset (De Ansatte), a novel by Danish author Olga Ravn, was one of the first books to be published with fundingfrom the Translating World Literature into Finnish grant. Read an interview with translator Sanna Manninen .
The next applications for the grant will be accepted in the foundation’s March 2025 round of applications. Read more about Translating World Literature into Finnish.
A total of 116 postdoctoral scholars from all over Finland participated in the spring application round. This means that 19% of the applicants received a grant, comparing to 27% last year.
One of the grantees is Ph.D. Dipabarna Bhattacharya, who will travel to Stanford University in the United States. “Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a systemic autoimmune disease that affects millions worldwide. It’s characterized by the immune system attacking synovial joints, resulting in synovitis, acute joint pain, reduced mobility, and even mortality. My research is focused on understanding the pivotal role of CD8+ T cells in the development of RA. Recent findings from Prof. Satu Mustjoki’s lab at the University of Helsinki and Prof. Siddharta Jaiswal’s lab at Stanford University hint at a promising connection between CD8+ T cells and RA. I’m very excited to start collaborative efforts between the two labs, aiming to unravel the complexities of RA and enhance treatment strategies for those affected”, Bhattacharya says.
D.Sc. Most Kaniz Moriam received a grant for post-doctoral research on the recyclability of cellulose-based textile waste. “Synthetic textile fibers impose the biggest threat in the textile industry as they introduce an alarming amount of microplastics, eventually entering the environment and human food chain. Hence, the textile industry requires sustainable alternatives. I am working to improve the efficiency of the recycling of cellulosic wastes by investigating the viscoelastic properties of cellulose with or without a multipolymer matrix in an ionic liquid-based solution by applying advanced methodologies. I am working at the Non-Newtonian Fluid Dynamics group at the Mechanical Engineering Department at MIT”, says Moriam.
D.Sc. Mohamadamin Forouzandehmehr is also going to work in the United States. His research area is computer models that take into account gender differences in human myocardial cells and better diagnostics. “Mathematical models, particularly those that delve into the subcellular level, offer a fascinating glimpse into the mechanistic underpinnings of pathophysiological pathways. My current research focuses on the computational modeling of mitochondria, investigating their role in various cardiac diseases like heart failure, diabetic cardiomyopathy, mutation-specific hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, and the potential for uncovering novel therapeutic targets. Recognizing the importance of sex-specificity in designing optimal treatments, I plan to integrate mechanisms within our models to simulate the sex differences”, Forouzandehmehr explains.
Why the Post Doc Pool?
The Pool aims at making Finnish research more international. After twenty-nine application rounds, over 770 scholars have received funding through the Pool for at least a one-year research period abroad. One third of the grantees have received a two-year funding.
From 2022 onwards, it has been possible to apply for funding even for shorter research periods abroad (i.e. outside of Finland) that last at least 6 months. The Pool’s next application round will take place from 15 August until 15 September 2024, when some 1.6 million euro will be distributed in grants. The results of this round will be published by December 2024.
Säätiöiden post doc -pooli has proven to be an important instrument of research funding, enabling young scholars with families to finance research periods at top universities abroad. The grants awarded by the Pool are determined flexibly in accordance with the applicant’s needs and they often include their family’s moving expenses and children’s day care or school fees.
The post doc grants from the Finnish Cultural Foundation:
The Post Doc Pool of Finnish foundations was set up in the autumn of 2009. During the current three-year-period 2022-2024 there are thirteen foundations involved, allocating altogether 3.25 million euro annually to the pool. The foundations are the Ella and Georg Ehrnrooth Foundation, the Emil Aaltonen’s Foundation, the Alfred Kordelin Foundation, the Foundation for Economic Education, the Päivikki and Sakari Sohlberg Foundation, the Finnish Academy of Science and Letters, the Finnish Cultural Foundation, the Finnish Medical Foundation, the Swedish Cultural Foundation in Finland, the Society of Swedish Literature in Finland, the Finnish Foundation for Technology Promotion, the Jenny and Antti Wihuri Foundation and the Ulla Tuominen’s Foundation.
The prize was presented by the Finnish Cultural Foundation’s Vice Chairwoman of the Board of Trustees, Anne Birgitta Pessi and CEO Susanna Pettersson, and the Finnish National Ballet’s Artistic Director Javier Torres, who was also a member of the jury. Besides Torres, the jury comprised Leena Niemistö, Chair of the Board of the Finnish National Opera and Balletand Gita Kadambi, General Director of the Finnish National Opera and Ballet.
According to the jury’s rationale, Frans Valkama’s musical talent, precision, and determination have earned everyone’s respect and admiration from the outset of his career. These qualities have also enabled him to reach the very highest technical and artistic standards, and over the years, his passion for dance arts has only grown and deepened. In addition to performing lead roles in numerous classical ballets, he has showcased his talents in a wide range of contemporary works. Beyond his prowess as a dancer, Frans is highly valued by his colleagues and the entire Finnish National Ballet staff for his remarkable empathy, readiness to help, and his impeccable work ethic.
Frans Valkama joined the Finnish National Ballet in 2005. He was promoted to soloist in 2011 and principal dancer in 2014.
The Edvard Fazer Prize of the Finnish Cultural Foundation has been awarded at the Finnish National Ballet 20 times, since 1984. Earlier winners have been the dancers Aku Ahjolinna, Ulrika Hallberg, Maija Hänninen, Tommi Kitti, Jarkko Niininen, Juha Kirjonen, Barbora Kohoutková, Minna Tervamäki, Jaakko Eerola, Carolina Agüero, Timo Kokkonen, Nicholas Ziegler, Salla Eerola, Tiina Myllymäki, Samuli Poutanen, Michal Krčmář, Eun-Ji Ha, Linda Haakana, and Abigail Sheppard. The entire ensemble of the Finnish National Ballet shared the prize in 1994.
The Edvard Fazer Prize is a rotating trophy awarded biennially by the Finnish Cultural Foundation within the Finnish National Ballet for merits in promoting dance. The Edvard Fazer Prize was established in the 60th anniversary year of the Finnish National Ballet in 1982 and presented for the first time in 1984. The trophy is a silver cup, which was donated by the Titular Commercial Counsellor and Mrs. Roger Lindberg. It was originally gifted by the staff of the Finnish National Opera to their then Director, Edvard Fazer, for his seventieth birthday in 1931. In 1996, the Fazer Music Foundation transferred its assets to the Finnish Cultural Foundation, and the Fazer Music Fund was established. At that point, the award was renamed the Finnish Cultural Foundation’s Edvard Fazer Prize. Today, the Fazer Music Fund is known as the Roger Lindberg Music Fund. Its purpose is to support Finnish music arts and to award the prize named after Edvard Fazer.
Villu Jaanisoo (born 1963) is a multidisciplinary sculptor who has had a significant influence on the development of contemporary Finnish sculpture. A native of Tallinn, he graduated from the Estonian Art Academy in 1989. He has been a professor of sculpture at the University of the Arts Helsinki’s Academy of Fine Arts.
As a sculptor, Jaanisoo has embraced not only traditional materials such as stone, bronze, and steel but also unconventional ones, such as recycled car tyres, which feature in his public sculptures Paradise Island (2018) and Elephant (2018). The swaying palm trees in the middle of a traffic circle in the town of Lempäälä and the massive elephant in a public park in Jyväskylä invite viewers to ponder the relationship between art and the urban environment.
Other works such as Kuukkeli (2016) in Helsinki’s Kalasatama district are positioned to allow for encounters with art in everyday life. Jaanisoo’s most recent public sculptures are mask-like reliefs of the famous Finnish writers Minna Canth and Maria Jotuni (2023), created for the lobbies of the Kuopio City Theatre.
Photo: Riitta Supperi
Villu Jaanisoo receives the Finnish Cultural Foundation award for his innovative taming of materials and for bringing art into everyday life.
Heini Junkkaala
Heini Junkkaala (born 1975) is a playwright, director, and dramaturge from Helsinki. She received her Master of Arts in Theatre and Drama in 2006 from the University of the Arts Helsinki’s Theatre Academy, where she has worked as a professor of dramaturgy and playwriting since the beginning of 2024.
Junkkaala’s work is described as uncompromising and as having a unique voice. Her plays take on challenging contemporary issues such as sexual identity, gender diversity, the generational divide, and the paradoxes of religious belief.
She often explores her themes through private, personal perspectives, but does so in a way that makes the personal experience universal. In addition to her many plays, Junkkaala is known for her biography of Pirkko Saisio, Pirkko Saisio – Sopimaton, which was a nominee for last year’s non-fiction Finlandia Prize.
Photo: Riitta Supperi
Heini Junkkaala receives the Finnish Cultural Foundation award for her innovative theatre work and her ability to make the personal experience universal.
Jukka Pekola
Jukka Pekola (born 1958) is a professor of quantum nanophysics and a long-standing advocate for quantum technology research. He received his doctorate in engineering and technology from the Helsinki University of Technology in 1984 and teaches at Aalto University. He has twice been an academy professor of the Academy of Finland and also has received the distinguished ERC Advanced Grant of the European Union. Pekola is a member of both the Finnish Academy of Science and Letters and the Finnish Academy of Technical Sciences.
Pekola is currently the director of the Centre of Excellence in Quantum Technology and leads the quantum phenomena and devices group of the Finnish Quantum Institute (InstituteQ). The institute coordinates collaboration on quantum science by the University of Helsinki, Aalto University, and the VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland with the goal of preparing Finland to take advantage of the potential offered by quantum technologies.
Previously, Pekola has received awards for his notable achievements in quantum thermodynamics, metrology, and cryogenics based on nanoscale electronic devices.
Photo: Riitta Supperi
Jukka Pekola receives the Finnish Cultural Foundation award for his tireless promotion of research into quantum technology and his work to solve the challenges facing humankind.
As a result of its application round in October 2023, the Finnish Cultural Foundation has awarded grants totalling over 30 million euros to support science, the arts, and culture. The foundation gives out more than 50 million euros annually, making it one of the largest grant-making foundations in Finland.
“We want to take responsibility for the opportunities to make and experience science, the arts, and culture in the entire country,” says Susanna Petterson, CEO of the Finnish Cultural Foundation. “This time, the grant money was spread across 90 municipalities and 1,000 researchers, artists, and projects. By strengthening science and art, we build a sustainable, pluralistic, and diverse society.”
The October application round marks the first time the foundation received over 10,000 applications. One in 10 applications was awarded a grant. The applications are reviewed by a diverse group of over 150 experts in a range of scientific and artistic fields. The members of the group change from year to year.
In the October round, 43% of the grant money was directed to the arts and 57% to science. The larger percentage of funds allocated to science reflects the interest of the majority of the foundation’s donors in providing support to scientific fields.
The need for support particularly for artistic work has grown steadily in recent years.
“Art received almost 13 million euros worth of support from the Finnish Cultural Foundation. Grants that provide for full-time work are immensely important for artists, as their work requires persistence and concentration,” Pettersson says. “Together with foundations, public funders must ensure that artists continue to have an opportunity to focus on creative work.”
Harri Lipsanen is working to find new solutions for greener technology. Photo by Anni Hanén
The largest grants in science were awarded to research supporting Finland’s competitiveness in industry and business. Aalto University professors Harri Lipsanen and Zhipei Sun and their team were given 250,000 euros for their work developing neuromorphic electronic components that imitate the structure and function of the human brain. The scientists are striving to find new, more environmentally friendly technological solutions.
Another major grant, of 242,000 euros, was awarded to Doctor of Theology Sini Mikkola and her team at the University of Eastern Finland to study norms, expectations, and ideals of manhood in a Lutheran context from the Reformation to the first decades of the 20th century. Their research is of particular interest at a time when the changing nature of masculinity is being discussed in the media, the church, and politics.
Full-time grants provide continuity
The foundation awards a large number of grants that allow grantees to work on science or art full-time. In this round, 460 full-year grants were awarded, of which 168 were multi-year grants.
Four-year grants will be used to study a wide range of topics, including: the visual politics of far-left online communities in the US (MA Jaakko Dickman), a method for measuring cancer stem cells in patient samples, (PhD Nikolaos Giannareas), the practices of hope and utopia (PhD Teemu Paavolainen), poetics in the late works of L. Onerva (MA Susanna Selve), and how transgenderism is represented in liberal Russian media (MA Alisa Virtanen). Documentary film director and screenwriter Anu Kuivalainen also received a four-year grant for her work.
The Kirpilä Art Collection research grant is intended for postdoc research related to art collecting, collectors’ collections, home museums, or artists who feature in the Kirpilä Art Collection. MA Elina Sairanen was awarded this four-year research grant for studying Finnish art museums founded by private collectors from the 1880s to the 2020s.
Visual artist Mimosa Pale received a multi-year grant for community art projects and artistic work. Photo by Ilona Valkonen
Three-year grants were awarded, for example, for the study of: the streaming format as an environment in which young people construct their identities (MFA Harri Homi), the experiences of people with disabilities transitioning to working life (MA Kia Liimatainen), and employing gamification techniques to promote sustainable behaviours among citizens (MSc Naghmeh Mohammadpourlima). Three-year grants for artistic work were awarded to author Tiina Laitila Kälvemark, illustrator and visual artist Aino Louhi, drama translator Reita Lounatvuori, visual artist Joel Slotte, sculptor and performance artist Mimosa Pale, and circus artist Sasu Peistola.
Information for a wide audience
The Finnish Cultural Foundation also gave approximately 900,000 euros toward the production of non-fiction books on a variety of topics in science and art. This support has a direct impact on work opportunities in the field.
“Non-fiction literature struggles with a lack of funding. We want to do our part to ensure that publishing high-quality non-fiction in Finnish will continue to be possible,” says Susanna Pettersson. “We need more critical discussion and curiosity towards the world, which is what non-fiction literature represents.”
Katariina Parhi and Vesa Ranta will focus on the history of workhouses in their forthcoming non-fiction book.
Heidi Airaksinen and Tiina Tuppurainen will write about Finnish queer history, and Susanne Dahlgren and Mikko Lohikoski are working on a book regarding changing power politics in the Middle East. Katariina Parhi and Vesa Ranta will focus on the history of workhouses, and Mika Rokka is writing about endangered butterfly species. Sonja Saarikoski will look at classical music from the perspective of women, and Lassi Karhu is making a podcast popularising cyber security.
Tiede tutuksi (Getting to know science) grants focusing on children and young people were awarded to 12 projects, amounting to a total of over 800,000 euros.
The foundation’s 25,000-euro Eminentia grants are given to leaders in scientific or artistic fields to help them reflect on their life’s work in written form. This round’s grants were awarded to dance artist and choreographer Alpo Aaltokoski, former leader of the National Library of Finland Kai Ekholm, dance artist Marja Korhola, painter and graphic artist Inari Krohn, former professor of film editing at Aalto University Anne Lakanen, visual artist Jarmo Mäkilä, and costume designer and scenographer Pirjo Valinen.
Encounters, experiences, and interactions
The number of Romani speakers in Finland has decreased significantly, and the language has become endangered. In 2022, the Finnish Cultural Foundation decided to spend up to a million euros by 2030 to support Finnish Romani language and culture. The support will consist primarily of grants, and the first 10 were awarded in this round.
Anette Åkerlund is writing a book of poetry in Romani.
PhD Mirkka Salo will use her grant to study metalanguage in online conversations regarding the Romani language by Finnish Romani people, and MMus Anette Åkerlund is writing a book of poetry in Romani. Various grants were awarded to develop Romani learning materials and to further language revitalisation work.
Several grantees aim to increase the understanding of the immigrant experience in Finland. The work of MSc Bayan Bilal Ahmad Arouri examines the reimagining of violence and peace in Syrian refugee communities in Finland and Jordan, MA Akhgar Kaboli researches the future outlook for young refugee adults living in Finland, and MSc Yasemin Kontkanen looks into the entrepreneurship of immigrant women in Finland.
Support was also directed to Sámi languages and culture. Essi Morottaja and team Čuovvâd were given a grant of 90,000 euros for a children’s music project to develop Sámi early music education and create new materials for music pedagogy in all three Sámi languages spoken in Finland. Architect Eveliina Sarapää received a grant to establish a consortium of Sámi architects, which is intended to start a discussion in Finland regarding Sámi architecture and construction in Sápmi.
“The Finnish Cultural Foundation has long been active in protecting minority languages and cultures. As a foundation of and for the whole of Finland, we are responsible not only for endangered cultural capital, but also the inclusivity of culture and art,” notes Susanna Pettersson.
The foundation also provides Taidetta kaikille (Art for all) grants to increase the opportunities for people in need of support or care to experience high-quality art. A total of 460,000 euros was awarded to 12 projects.
AI is changing the world
In recent years, various artificial intelligence (AI) applications have come into everyday use. Many grant applicants hope to explore the opportunities offered by AI and understand its consequences.
One of the largest grants this year was given to Aalto University professor Mikko Alava and his team. They received 200,000 euros to develop waterproof foams that can be used to replace plastic. The study utilises biomimetics, mimicking the structure of wood with the help of AI-based methods.
Other AI-focused grants were awarded to: law professor at the University of Helsinki Anette Alén and her team to research the changes in preconditions and interests in the creative industry and its business models in the age of digitalisation and artificial intelligence; MA Liisa Petäinen to study new AI-based methods in cancer diagnostics; and DSocSc Heikki Wilenius to examine the interaction between developers and AI, and the resulting overall changes in their work.
Based on video pre-screening, the Mirjam Helin competition selected 56 out of 485 applicants for the competition in Helsinki next June. Altogether 61 nationalities were represented among the applicants.
Soile Isokoski, opera singer and chair of the Mirjam Helin competition jury is delighted to see that the competition attracted such highly promising and talented singers.
“Naturally, the first criterion is the applicant’s voice, but this is just the starting point. We look for singers who perform the music as it is intended but who also go beyond the notes, bring the song to life and master all the different genres. Verdi and Mozart cannot be sung in the same way,” Isokoski says.
South Korea has the highest number of applicants accepted to the competition, thirteen in total. Four of the competitors are from Finland. The competitors represent 25 nationalities, with participants from countries such as Armenia, Germany, Costa Rica, China, the United States, Croatia and Australia. For a full list of competitors, see mirjamhelin.fi.
The preliminary competition with piano accompaniment will take place from 3 to 6 June 2024. The jury selects 16–20 singers for the semifinals, and six will be eligible for the orchestral finals on 12 June. In the orchestral finals, the singers will perform with the Helsinki Philharmonic, led by Sir Mark Elder.
The jury members are soprano Dawn Upshaw, mezzosoprano Randi Stene, baritone Bo Skovhus, pianist Keval Shah and chair, soprano Soile Isokoski.
The Mirjam Helin competition is celebrating its 40th anniversary this year. The winner will be awarded the first prize of 50,000 euro; the second prize is 40,000 euro, the third prize 30,000 euro, and the other three finalists will receive 10,000 euro each. The finalists will also have opportunities to perform at Finnish music festivals and with Finnish orchestras.
The Finnish Cultural Foundation has been organizing the international Mirjam Helin competition since 1984. The competition is founded on Mirjam ja Hans Helin’s large donation. Professor Mirjam Helin’s (1911–2006) aim was to establish an international singing competition in Finland and to make it the most prestigious competition globally.
The Digitutkijat project organises workshops for pupils in year 4 to strengthen their media literacy and digital welfare skills, including the ability to navigate digital media safely and responsibly, in a way that supports one’s own wellbeing as well as that of others. Cost-free to schools, the workshops aim to support schools and families in their media education efforts nationally. The workshops will begin in March.
“Navigating in a rapidly changing media environment, strengthening media literacy, and regulating screen time are fundamental civic skills of today. Digitutkijat aims to minimise the harmful effects of digitalisation and encourage using digital media in ways that improve wellbeing,” says Susanna Pettersson, the CEO of the Finnish Cultural Foundation. “Digitutkijat is based on the Minun kasvoni (my face) project conducted in the Häme region of Finland. We wanted to expand a topical project that’s been proven effective onto a national level.”
“Workshops that have been designed in line with the principles of the national curriculum provide schools with an opportunity to approach media education in a student-centred and inspiring manner,” adds Paula Aalto, the head of MLL’s school co-operation and digital youth work.
Inspiring workshops that get children involved
The workshops support children’s ability to read different kinds of media content and understand media environments whilst encouraging independent and critical thinking and providing tools for making choices that enhance wellbeing. MLL’s prefects join the workshops as mentors in support of younger pupils.
“Children spend time using digital devices and are interested in media use. In the workshops, the pupils – digital scientists – dive deeper and wonder, contemplate, and solve tasks and problems related to media use, without forgetting fun and play. The basis lies in the involvement of pupils and doing things together with others. MLL’s prefects help younger pupils and share their experiences in what constitutes balanced and safe media use,” Aalto notes.
“The Mannerheim League for Child Welfare is an expert organisation with wide-ranging networks and a long experience in this kind of work. We have collaborated previously, and MLL’s strong competence in the field of media education supports the success of the project,” says Pettersson.
The Digitutkijat project comprises, for example, engaging workshops for year 4 pupils as well as national online parent nights and webinars for professionals. The goal is to reach 75% of primary and comprehensive schools.
Digitutkijat (digital researchers) is a media education project carried out by the MLL and launched and funded by the Finnish Cultural Foundation aimed at supporting media education efforts by schools and families. The goal of the project is to strengthen children’s media literacy through involvement and inspiration, as studies show that the use of digital devices is connected to children’s wellbeing. Digitutkijat supports digital education, namely the ability to read and interpret different kinds of media texts and review the content critically and independently.
In the January round, the regional funds give out grants to support the arts and sciences in their own regions. The regional funds award grants to applicants who live or were born in the region, as well as to scientific or artistic work and diverse cultural projects taking place in the region.
Special-purpose grants common to all the regional funds include projects related to each region’s heritage, Art for Everyone grants and spearhead project grants.
Some regions have their own special-purpose grants and focus areas.
Regional special-purpose grants
Speak Finnish Boldly!
The South Ostrobothnia Regional Fund has a Speak Finnish Boldly! grant in addition to its usual funding for artistic or scientific work. The grant sum is EUR 3,000 and the applicant must undertake to improve their Finnish language skills during the grant period.
Planning Grant
Applications may be made to the Pirkanmaa Regional Fund for planning and developing a spearhead or major project for the 2024 application round. The grant sum is EUR 2,500 and its purpose is to facilitate the planning and development of large-scale and exceptionally demanding projects.
A joint project for sciences
A joint science grant of EUR 100,000 from the North Karelia and North Savo Regional Funds is available for a high-quality project combining different scientific disciplines. The working group of the project must involve participants from both regions, from universities or other research institutions.
Art Together
Instead of Art for All grants, the Uusimaa Regional Fund distributes Art Together grants. The aim of this form of support is to increase the well-being, becoming visible by their own volition, and the participation of minorities, those in need of special support or care, or people otherwise living in socially vulnerable contexts, through means of ethically sustainable and dialogic art and culture.
There will be a joint grant information event online for all the regional funds on Thursday 25 January. The English part starts at 2.15 pm and the Finnish part at 3 pm. You can access through the participation link below when the event starts, and the link will also be sent in the grant newsletter.
The Cultural Foundation’s residency programme has expanded by three host sites from 2024 onwards, with the addition of Kanuti Gildi SAAL in Tallinn, MORPHO in Antwerp and SÍM in Reykjavík.The programme’s ten host sites are located across eight countries.
“The Finnish Cultural Foundation’s residency programme is seen as significant in the Nordic region as a whole, and we want to continue building upon it.Finnish art has always relied upon international mobility, and these days it is more important than ever to give artists opportunities to travel and network internationally,” says the Cultural Foundation’s CEO,Susanna Pettersson.
Since the pandemic, application volumes for artists’ residencies have been growing:while the foundation received 127 applications in 2021 and 176 in 2022, the number nearly doubled this year, reaching a record of 324 applications.
Fifteen artists to take up residencies in 2024
The residency programme allows artists from diverse fields to absorb new international influences, build networks and acquire new perspectives for their work.This year, Residency Grants will be awarded to 15 artists.
“A residency allows artists to develop in their work, network internationally, and temporarily distance themselves from their everyday lives. Many artists describe the impact of a residency as groundbreaking for their careers.In our new partnerships, we have paid particular attention to the support artists receive in their work,” explains senior adviser Johanna Ruohonen, who is in charge of the residency programme.
On the left Miia Kettunen, photo: Marko Junttila. On the right Pavel Rotts, photo: Marko Marin.
Miia Kettunen and Pavel Rotts will travel to the NART residency in Narva, Estonia, in 2024.Kettunen is a multidisciplinary visual artist, who focuses on environmental and community art.In her current works, she is exploring the use of components from environmental art, bioart, alternative photography techniques and media arts.
A Room of Absence 2, oil on steel, Tiina Pyykkinen, 2023. Photo: Sampo Linkoneva, Serlachius Museums.
Pavel Rotts uses diverse techniques within the ambits of conceptual art, performance and sculpture.An Ingrian Finn born in the Soviet Union, Rotts often uses his background as a starting point. When Russia began its military attack on Ukraine, he became an antiwar activist and was involved in setting up the NO PUTIN NO charity campaign, which supported Ukrainian refugees.
Tiina Pyykkinen is a Helsinki-based visual artist, whose mirror-surfaced paintings often deal with themes of memory, time and bodily perceptions.She is off to the Triangle residency in New York to work on a new series of paintings.
Artist Panos Balomenos (pictured above), who combines watercolour painting and performance in his work, will also be going to New York.Balomenos explores themes related to power relations, sexuality and politics through personal narration, historical events and fiction.
Recipients of Residency Grants in 2023:
Panos Balomenos, MA: Triangle, New York
Karolina Ginman, dancer, with team: Kanuti Gildi SAAL, Tallinn
Miia Kettunen, MA: NART, Narva
Aaro Murphy, visual artist, Tokyo Arts and Space, Tokyo
Elina Oikari, MA: Fabrikken, Copenhagen
Jarkko Partanen, choreographer, with team: Kanuti Gilda SAAL, Tallinn
Tiina Pyykkinen, MA: Triangle, New York
Hannu Pöppönen, cultural editor: Filba, Buenos Aires
Arto Rintala, MPhil: Filba, Buenos Aires
Pavel Rotts, MFA: NART, Narva
Maiju Suomi, Architect and Patrik Söderlund, artist, AIT, Tokyo
