Päivi Venäläinen has started as a Fund Officer for the Finnish Cultural Foundation’s Uusimaa and Kymenlaakso funds on 2.10.2023. She is also the person in charge of the Art Testers project at the Foundation.
In her previous position, Venäläinen was the Executive Director of the Art Centre for Children and Young People Foundation that promotes the art education of children and young people in Finland.
She brings a solid knowledge of children’s and youth culture and expertise in art and pedagogy to her new workplace.
“It will be exciting to work in a specialist organisation like the Finnish Cultural Foundation, with a wide range of skills, both in staff and trustees. I have often applied for grants, which makes peeking into the other side particularly interesting,” says Venäläinen.
She has worked in cultural education and audience development for most of her career. Her doctoral thesis in art education, completed in 2019, has focus on the same topic: contemporary art as a learning environment.
Previously, Venäläinen has worked in various roles at the Art Centre for Children and Young People Foundation, in pedagogical positions at the Museum of Contemporary Art Kiasma and the Finnish National Gallery, and has taught museum pedagogy. She holds a PhD in art education and a master’s degree in education.
In her new role, she is particularly inspired by broadening her perspective from children and youth culture to the wider phenomena of art and science. “It’s great to get to know what kind of thoughts and ideas our grantees have.”
The year 2020 was very productive for Leonor Ruiz Dubrovin, who spent a big chunk of it in her studio in Madrid during the lockdown. She worked every day, all day, preparing for her exhibitions in Madrid, Santander, and Santiago, and for her forthcoming show at Helsinki’s Huuto gallery. Altogether she produced over a hundred paintings.
– It was the only way to stay sane for the three months that I spent by myself. I love to work when I am the one who decides when, and how I do it. For me it is a very rich way to live, and I would rather work 24 hours a day as a freelancer than eight hours in an office, and then have spare time. My spare time is work, she says.
A graduate of the Finnish Academy of Fine Arts, Ruiz Dubrovin says that her art has evolved in the past few years, thanks to exploring with new techniques. The artist, previously known for her use of mixed media and love of sculptures, has started to use oil paints instead of acrylics.
– It is a challenging, magnificent, and versatile technique with so many possibilities. Oil dries gently and slowly, and it’s very nice to play with. It feeds the ideas that I have in my mind right now, she says.
“I let the painting tell me when it’s finished.”
Ruiz Dubrovin’s show at the Huuto gallery at the end of April 2021 will feature a series of new paintings on different scales. Some of them look a lot like slightly shaken photographs by being somewhat blurry or out of focus, while some are more profound. The exhibition is titled Core.
– The name refers to a nucleus, an essence, or a heart, the most important part of something, says the artist.
Experience is the best teacher
Mastering new techniques has given Ruiz Dubrovin confidence but it is not the only thing that has changed; her works have also become more simplified. She thinks it is crucial for an artist to learn to be able to be self-critical in both positive and negative ways – and to know when a piece of work is done and it is time to step away from the canvas.
Leonor Ruiz Dubrovin
It hasn’t always been that way. When Ruiz Dubrovin was just starting out, she often continued working on her paintings to the point of demolishing them.
– Overworking can destroy the soul of the painting. I’m trying to maintain purity, and I let the painting tell me when it’s finished. It’s like riding a bike, you learn when you do it many times, she explains.
While everything is going smoothly right now for Ruiz Dubrovin, it is true that artists tend to face a lot of uncertainness and solitude, perhaps now more than ever. Ruiz Dubrovin says that she has learned to embrace both. She is not looking for life to be all predictable, and no longer worries over trivialities. While her younger self often felt anxious or frustrated for not being able to do everything straight away, now at the age of 42 she feels at peace and confident, knowing that there is the right time for everything.
– I’m very happy at this age, oh my god, it is the best! I know myself better and I’m more accepting, it’s quite relaxing. I don’t need to show off like I used to when I was younger. I have learned to do what has to be done first, little by little, and let the process flow. It has been a long journey and it took years and years but now I feel content.
M.A. Leonor Ruiz Dubrovin was awarded a grant from the Uusimaa Regional Fund in 2009, and the Central Fund in 2020.
Priority is given to applicants who are currently living or have born in the region, work carried out in or for the region, and cultural and development projects of special regional importance.
Spearhead projects requiring larger-than-usual funding will receive a minimum of 40,000 euros in the form of one or two grants.Such projects require fresh or exceptional points of view, content, quality, or design.
20,000 euros have been earmarked for Art for Institutions projects in the January round of applications.The aim of this form of support is to promote the equal realisation of cultural rights and to improve the quality of life of people in need of special support or care, through art.The work or project may take place in welfare and nursing institutions or other environments, the residents or users of which may otherwise have limited access to art.Possible institutions include sheltered homes, day centres, and homes of the elderly, hospitals, prisons, reception centres, care units for substance abusers, and child welfare institutions.
The Local Culture Projects grants are specified for projects that aim to preserve and rejuvenate the local culture and cultural environment, such as documenting and increasing awareness of local heritage, as well as histories, exhibitions, and events of local communities and societies.
A person engaged in full-time gainful employment is eligible for a working grant (so called passion grant) for the purpose of carrying out a scientific or an artistic project not related to their full-time work. It is possible to apply for this grant as an individual or as a part of a working group. The size of the project is not specified, but the maximum amount of a working grant per person is limited to 3 000 euros.
For more information go to skr.fi/en/januaryround Please read the application guidelines carefully before sending the application. More information about the regional funds and contact information can be found on skr.fi/en/regional-funds
The application period closes at 4.00 pm on Feb 10. Ask also your referee to submit a reference in the Online Reference Service on the application deadline date.
“I have always enjoyed so-called difficult literature, which bestows an active role upon the reader,” explains Finnish translator Minnamari Pitkänen.
Pitkänen’s translation into Finnish of theHungarian author László Krasznahorkai’s debut novel Sátántangó (Saatanatango, Teos, 2019), has been praised by critics. Demokraatti magazine called it the “translation highlight of the year”. Helsingin Sanomat newspaper applauded Pitkänen’s “naturalness in overcoming coarse slang, geological grammar avalanches and everything in between.”
Suomen Kuvalehti magazine described the Finnish translation as a work of art in itself: “The Finnish language does not lend itself with ease to the forms of exhausting modernism. Pitkänen brings it off brilliantly.”
“The novel is complex on both a linguistic and a thought level. The end result is beautiful.”
Sátántangó depicts the bewildered and confused inhabitants of a Hungarian backwater during the period of real socialism, whose hopes for change are quashed. Each chapter is a single, seemingly endless paragraph. In part one of the book, the chapters are numbered from one to six, and in part two from six to one, with everything returning to its point of origin. One of the novel’s translators into English, George Szirtes, has described Krasznahorkai’s style as “a slow lava flow of narrative, a vast black river of type”.
It took Pitkänen two and a half years of working half-time.
“The novel is complex on both a linguistic and a thought level. The end result is beautiful. The characters ponder some of the most fundamental existential questions,” Pitkänen explains.
“Unlike some of Krasznahorkai’s later works, the river of text in Sátántangó offers some stepping stones upon which to rest. Occasionally he shifts to a more traditional form of narration and something concrete happens in the story. It allows the reader’s brain to take a breather before being wrenched once again into the corkscrew of the subconscious.”
For Pitkänen, the translation process was tough but enjoyable. Often she would translate just one sentence at a time, after which a break was required. Even that was not always possible, with the novel’s sentences sometimes running for as long as a whole page. Krasznahorkai uses a lot of unusual words and expressions, as well as complicated grammatical structures.
“The text’s structure is insane,” Pitkänen says.
“Discomfort is an important part of the work. The reader is not supposed to be at ease in its trap. The prized content can be unlocked through active work, and the translator must not deprive the reader of that effort.”
Pitkänen started studying in the Department of Finnish, Finno-Ugrian and Scandinavian Studies of the University of Helsinki in 2005, specialising in Hungarian. Since then she has spent several long periods living in Hungary.
Pitkänen was attracted by Krasznahorkai’s style and wanted to take on the translation of Sátántangó. She translated samples of the novel in 2017 and sent them off to several publishers.
“To receive a message from an influential institution that they believe in you and support you, is enormously encouraging.”
Her first choice was the Baabel series of world literature that has not previously been translated into Finnish, and Pitkänen succeeded in making a deal with its publishers, Teos, in 2019. She started applying for grants in 2017, and succeeded in obtaining a six-month grant from the Finnish Cultural Foundation.
“It was hugely significant, and not just financially. Translators, particularly those working on their first extensive works, can feel very much alone in the world. I almost lost faith on many occasions. To then receive a message from an influential institution that they believe in you and support you, is enormously encouraging.”
In total, Pitkänen spent around two and a half years working half-time on the translation. She has agreed to translate more Krasznahorkai for Teos, and negotiations are currently ongoing on the next title to tackle.
Last year, the English translation of Krasznahorkai’s novel Baron Wenckheim’s Homecoming won the esteemed American National Book Award for Translated Literature. The choice was closely followed in Finland because the shortlist included the novel Crossing by Pajtim Statovci from Finland.
Priority is given to applicants who are currently living or have born in the region, work carried out in or for the region, and cultural and development projects of special regional importance.
Spearhead projects requiring larger-than-usual funding will receive a minimum of 40,000 euros in the form of one or two grants.Such projects require fresh or exceptional points of view, content, quality, or design.
20,000 euros have been earmarked for Art for Institutions projects in the January round of applications.The aim of this form of support is to promote the equal realisation of cultural rights and to improve the quality of life of people in need of special support or care, through art.The work or project may take place in welfare and nursing institutions or other environments, the residents or users of which may otherwise have limited access to art.Possible institutions include sheltered homes, day centres, and homes of the elderly, hospitals, prisons, reception centres, care units for substance abusers, and child welfare institutions.
The Local Culture Projects grants are specified for projects that aim to preserve and rejuvenate the local culture and cultural environment, such as documenting and increasing awareness of local heritage, as well as histories, exhibitions, and events of local communities and societies.
A new type of grant available
A person engaged in full-time gainful employment is eligible for a working grant (so called passion grant) for the purpose of carrying out a scientific or an artistic project not related to their full-time work. It is possible to apply for this grant as an individual or as a part of a working group. The size of the project is not specified, but the maximum amount of a working grant per person is limited to 3 000 euros.
For more information go to skr.fi/en/januaryround Please read the application guidelines carefully before sending the application. More information about the regional funds and contact information can be found on skr.fi/en/regional-funds
The application period closes at 4.00 pm on Feb 10. Ask also your referee to submit a reference in the Online Reference Service on the application deadline date.
