The cuts to arts and culture funding by Finland’s current right-wing government are so immense that the country has never seen anything like it. The whole sector now fears it is facing a crisis.
Already this year, public funding for arts and culture has been drastically reduced, but next year additional, even larger state subsidy cuts will hit the sector: a total of €17.4 million.
Of these new savings, €10.9 million will be slashed from state-subsidised theatres, dance and circus companies, and museums. A further €6.5 million will be cut from funding for arts and culture promotion. This includes operational grants from the Arts Promotion Centre (Taike) for so-called independent companies, as well as targeted project grants, which were already reduced by €1.3 million this year. Such a large-scale cut has never before occurred in Taike’s history.
The scale of these cuts is staggering. Finland is now heading towards a crisis in the arts sector, the consequences of which no one dares to predict.
The performing arts are a highly interdependent ecosystem, where reductions in one entity’s resources have a ripple effect across the sector. However, there seems to be no comprehensive evaluation of the cuts’ overall impact on the field.
Those working in the arts and culture sector are now being hit from multiple directions.
These cuts will be particularly devastating for employment in the dance and circus sectors, where over 60% of operating expenses are tied to personnel and wages. With funding cuts, job opportunities for all, including freelancers, will dwindle. More and more people will find themselves relying on unemployment benefits.
Simultaneously, cuts to social security and unemployment benefits will exacerbate the situation, especially in fields where freelancing and short-period employment are common and wages are already low. Those working in the arts and culture sector are now being hit from multiple directions.
There is real concern that circus and dance activities in Finland will shrink dramatically, with many organisations likely forced to shut down. Growth opportunities in these fields will be suffocated – there will be less art available for audiences and fewer cultural experiences for people to enjoy.
In Finland, the proportion of the state budget allocated to arts and culture is just 0.8% – below the international average. Municipalities spend less than 2% of their budgets on culture.
It is clear that savings from this area will not solve the broader issues of the national economy.
More about the government:
The government in power was elected in 2023 and consists of the National Coalition Party, the Finns Party, the Swedish People’s Party, and the Christian Democrats. The government has pursued a right-wing austerity agenda, weakening benefits in the name of reducing state deficits, while also restricting political strikes. Its policies have included tightening citizenship requirements and introducing numerous stricter immigration controls.