Art, Culture and Diverse Finland : Final Report of the Working Group for Cultural Policy, Immigrants and Promotion of Cultural Diversity

Abstract

International migration has made Finland more diverse. New language groups, religious communities and ethnic communities have emerged in our country. While this development challenges the conventions of Finnish cultural policy, it also offers many opportunities for the arts and cultural life.

The increasing diversity of the Finnish population needs to be mainstreamed into the planning and decision-making procedures in arts and cultural policy. The funding of arts needs to be developed strategically, taking into account the growing societal importance of cultural diversity. Successful mainstreaming means engaging migrants more equitably into arts and cultural life.

It is important to see multilingualism and diverse cultural competences as human resources and as an integral part of Finnish cultural life. Multilingualism and knowledge about different cultures play an important role in creative working communities, and we need a new understanding of this role.

Arts and cultural organisations must be able to identify discriminatory structures and recruitment practices and recognise their varying degrees of existence in their own activities. Expertise related to cultural diversity, equity and equality should be developed in these organisations.

Cultural actors need to consciously diversify their programmes and also foster contents arising from different cultural heritages and aesthetic concepts.