City of Helsinki Cultural Office Year 2014 in brief Cultural Director’s HELSINKI IS FINLAND’S MOST important cultural city. Nearly all national cultural institutions and higher education in the fields of arts and culture are located within the borders of Helsinki. Our municipal arts institutions also stand up well in international comparison. This string of large units each dedicated to a single cause is complemented – and further developed – by the City of Helsinki Cultural Office. We are responsible for the overall vision of the cultural wellbeing of Helsinki, and it is a burden we bear with pleasure. In 2014, the Cultural Office awarded grants to more than 650 recipients. These grants, large and small, ensure that Helsinki remains vibrant throughout the year. Our Cultural Policies department has expertise not only in grants but also in research, international operations and sniffing out future trends. This vision supports not only the Cultural Office itself but also the city at large and cultural operators in it. This wisdom has been copied by many other local authorities in Finland with success, and we are happy for them to do so. The department’s reports demonstrate that cultural equality is not attained in Helsinki. Not all Helsinki residents have access to creating or enjoying culture. Our own grant system is partly to blame for this, and we are working to rectify the situation. Our seven venues remained busy throughout the year. Highlights included the 30th-anniversary and 20th-anniversary celebrations of Stoa and Malmitalo, respectively. Caisa undertook a comprehensive and thorough survey of the need for cultural services in multicultural Helsinki over the next 15 years. In 2014, there were 1,700 performances in all, with a combined audience of 196,000. There were 1,306 arts courses for kids, with 13,000 participants. There were 124 exhibitions, visited by 262,000 art lovers. Behind all this is our expert and committed personnel. The Helsinki Culture Prize went to Pelle Miljoona, and the WHS group received the Cultural Act prize for opening Teatteri Unioni. Finally, we may note that dance in Finland in general and in Helsinki in particular received a major boost with the EUR 15 million donation received from the Jane and Aatos Erkko Foundation for the House of Dance project towards the end of the year. The year 2015 will show how the city and state will match this funding. Stuba Nikula Cultural Director 28 TOIMINTAKERTOMUS 2014 Review
Toimintakertomus 2014
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