finnish cultural foundation
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finnish cultural foundation
annual report 2012–2013
T
he year under review was, for the
Finnish Cultural Foundation, a
successful one in the light of vari-
ous indicators. For investors, the past six
years have been a rollercoaster, but the
Foundation has continued its sustained
counter-cyclical policy, supporting culture
every year to the tune of EUR 40 million.
Since the yield on investments was excel-
lent for the second year in succession, the
value of the Foundation’s assets once again
topped the EUR 1.1 billion mark. If the
global economy continues its slow recov-
ery, the Cultural Foundation can, like other
foundations, claim to have weathered the
recession well. The buffers accrued in
the fat years carried them over the lean
ones. In other words, foundations have
performed as intended.
THE BEQUESTS
and donations received
during the year totalled EUR 16 million;
this is one of the finest results in the Cul-
tural Foundation’s history. These dona-
tions are in fact more momentous than
their monetary value would suggest, for
they make the Foundation a living part of
society. An ebb in donations would be a
sign that our work is no longer relevant
in the broader sense. As it is, the donors
communicate a political message that we
have the Finns’ support and approval.
Further proof of the need for the Cul-
tural Foundation is the new record set in
the number of applications: the Central
and Regional Funds together received
nearly 17,000. The size of grants has
been steadily raised for some time now,
which means that grants have become
increasingly difficult to obtain: last year,
some 2,000 were awarded, to one in nine
applicants.
THOUGH
we primarily support individual
researchers and artists, our biggest grants
served broader objectives. Examples were
In August, 20 journalists gathered for
a five-month masterclass to study various
genres of the arts and to debate about the
future of cultural journalism. Although it
is overshadowed by the same problems as
those of themedia in general, we especially
wanted to discuss a feature inherent in
cultural journalism itself: the passionate
journalist has difficulty placing himself in
the ordinary reader’s shoes.
THE YEAR
2014 will mark 75 years since
the Cultural Foundation was set up with
funds donated by close on 200,000 Finns.
A campaign telling about this will be
launched in the spring on the internet,
on the streets and in the press. In plan-
ning the campaign, we realised how dif-
ficult it is to compress the significance of
the Foundation into a concise message
capable of catching people’s attention in
today’s hectic world. We are not a single-
cause movement, nor do we market one
single product.
The very essence of a foundation rep-
resenting the entire nation lies in its broad
scope, its pluralism and its understanding
of diverse interests. It does not exclude
marginal forms of culture any more than
it does those that appeal to wider circles.
In autumn 2013 we commissioned a large
survey, which revealed that around half of
the Finnish population consider the ameni-
ties offered by cultural institutions impor-
tant to their wellbeing. They interpret the
role of the arts very broadly, and active
interest correlates little with income. The
survey proved that not even high culture
is elitist; it speaks to all, if only they have
an opportunity to enjoy it. The Finnish
Cultural Foundation wishes to continue
making this opportunity possible.
Antti Arjava
the establishment of The Dance House,
contemporary circus, training for young
musicians, and revival of the Sámi lan-
guage. These projects qualify as strategic
funding, for the repeated sizeable grants
awarded for them at an early stage have
given them a good start and they have
since attracted public attention and spon-
sorship.
A number of self-initiated projects
manifest the Cultural Foundation’s interest
in almost all things cultural. The extensive
Participative Integration pilot programme
designed to intensify language teaching
for immigrants terminated and the results
are now being audited together with the
relevant Ministries. The support for early
education in minority languages is reso-
lutely continuing in various parts of Russia,
with already an estimated 30 Finno-Ugric
language nests in operation. The Designed
Solutions 2012 programme tying in with
Design Capital Helsinki was praised as one
of the year’s most successful projects and
tackled such diverse problems as the interior design of a police van and the serv-
ing of school meals.
SINCE
the Cultural Foundation has many
donor funds earmarked for agriculture, we
have been looking at nutrient emissions
and their contribution to the eutrophica-
tion of our waterways. TheWWF has been
helped to buildwetlands checking nutrient
run-off, and the Baltic Sea Action Group
has received funds for counselling farms
on environmental issues. Together with
the Finnish Innovation Fund (Sitra), the
Cultural Foundation financed an inves-
tigation that proved the business profit-
ability of biogas as a traffic fuel. The aim
is to guide urban waste and field biomass
towards their use as fuel for heavy ve-
hicles. Based on this report, the City of
Turkumade its first decisions in this direc-
tion in October 2013.
Secretary General’s Review
Returns on investments were excellent and the Foundation’s economy was balanced.
The strategic projects continued. As the anniversary year begins,
the Finnish Cultural Foundation speaks on behalf of all culture lovers.
