Commentary at Art, Culture and a Diverse Finland seminar
Our founder, Ceyda Berk-Söderblom, spoke at Art, Culture and a Diverse Finland seminar co-organised by the Ministry of Education and Culture and the Arts Promotion Centre Finland (Taike).
In her speech, Ceyda highlighted labour market discrimination against foreign-born women in Finland and demanded action. Full text of Ceyda Berk-Söderblom’s commentary:
"Good morning, everyone!
It's great to be here amongst you and joining online. The real magic comes from people being in the same space!
Well, I am an independent arts professional who, among other things, studied business and love numbers. Before my commentary on today's theme, I feel the need to say a few words concerning the recent manifesto-breaking announcements of budget cuts.
Globally, cultural and creative industries, with annual revenue of 2,250 billion US Dollars, accounts for 3 % of world GDP and employ 29.5-million people - 1% of the world’s active population. After the Asia-Pacific countries, Europe, being the second-biggest economy, generates 32% of revenues and offers 25% of the jobs globally*.
The United Nations declared 2021 the International Year of Creative Economy for Sustainable Development. This was motivated by the fact that human-centric, inclusive development – something that arts and culture can do - has never been more relevant. Against this background, instead of investing in one of the most rapidly growing sectors worldwide, announcing budget cuts for the arts and culture sector is poor decision-making.
This being said, let's get back to the topic of today: diverse Finland.
I am delighted and honoured to be invited to speak to you today and comment on our work.
Pasi Saukkonen has introduced the Art, Culture and Diverse Finland report and summarised some of the recommendations. The policy recommendations are clear, specific, and realistic; they aim to dismantle discrimination and reduce the inequalities of the existing system.
The challenges we have been asked to solve and tackle are complex and cannot be solved from one single perspective; we need a collective vision. A vision that is not limited to the expertise of this working group alone. It is also not solvable through a homogenous Finnish approach, like the one prevailing in the local art scene for many years. Instead, we need a vision conceived and built collectively and inclusively - including everyone, and most importantly: including those the structure has been excluding.
For this reason, I would like to start by acknowledging the contribution of the artists and cultural workers who joined us at the workshops and generously shared their lived experiences. These ideas set the ground for our report.
And I would like to continue by touching upon the specific task given to our working group: to enhance opportunities for persons with a foreign background to engage in professional and other artistic and cultural activities.
I’m one of those. Therefore, this report is personal; so is everything I will say: personal and political.
The diversity and transformation work requires commitment, action, and accountability. Riitta Kaivosoja and Paula Tuovinen have informed us that the Ministry and Taike are committed to transforming the current structure. The structure fails to provide equal opportunities for many, especially foreign-born art professionals, concerning employment, artistic and professional growth.
As long as foreign-born art professionals are not represented within decision structures of arts and cultural institutions and among the cultural management elite of this country, we cannot talk about democratic participation. When the art scene is predominantly governed, created, and distributed by homogenous gatekeepers with very few structures to empower the foreign-born population on which this society’s economic future depends, we cannot talk about social justice. One of the fundamental values of our society, equality, cannot be taken for granted.
I demand action.
Sanna Marin’s Government’s Action plan for Gender Equality 2020–23 report states, and I quote here: “The labour market position of women with a foreign background is particularly weak. Even with good education and language skills, even after 15 years of living in Finland, they do not attain the employment rate of women with the native background.”
Just put this into perspective: 45% of women with foreign backgrounds are unemployed in this country—highly educated, competent women.
I demand action.
I want to call out to everyone in this room who has the power to recruit, invite and engage with others for artistic work - especially those who identify themselves as women. I want you to remember this paradox each time you feel proud of announcing Finland as the country of gender equality.
I want you to remember this paradox and reflect sincerely on your own role in building a brick wall in front of another woman’s right to work. Whenever you make a decision between the most competent and most suitable, usually selecting a Finnish person, the one that shares many similarities in thought with you - for the sake of continuing business as usual rather than being genuinely fair and inclusive, think about those women, think of us, who, because of your decisions, have been forced to be economically dependent and are stripped of their professional dignity in this country.
On behalf of myself and my colleagues and friends - talented, competent, educated, foreign-born women artists and cultural professionals, I demand action.
I want to see that the expertise and knowledge contributed to this report and its recommendations are acknowledged and included in this transformation on the level they deserve. Not unpaid, not unattributed, but instead recognised as professional expertise.
I believe in leading by example.
In the present circumstances, it is the mandate of the Ministry to guide and inspire the arts and cultural sector and its operators through a good example; show the way.
I demand action and accountability from the Ministry of Education and Culture, which with its report, encourages all arts and cultural institutions of this country to be more inclusive.
I demand action from everyone to rebuild an arts ecosystem where we all have fair and equal access to the information, resources, and opportunities vital to professional fulfilment and full artistic and cultural expression.
In my opinion, what lies at the heart of this transformation work is finding answers to the crucial questions in which the arts and cultural sector has not engaged for a long time: How do we become relevant for the Finnish society of today? And who is given a chance to contribute to the contemporary narrative of Finnish art?
I would like to conclude my comment by taking this opportunity to thank each and every member of this working group who gave me hope for believing in a brighter future.
Inclusion starts with action and flourishes with accountability.
Thank you."
Seminar on Art, Culture and a Diverse Finland by the Ministry of Education and Culture & Arts Promotion Centre Finland (Taike)
Thursday, 14 October 2021
photo: Maikki Kantola
* https://www.socan.com/cultural-and-creative-industries-fuel-global-economy-and-provide-29-5-million-jobs-worldwide/