What Is the Vision for Cultural Funding in Finland and How Is It Supported by the Government? : Analysis of the 2024 Cultural Policy Report and Trajectory of State Level Cultural Funding in Finland

Abstract

Discussion regarding cultural funding and its structures is currently active in Finland and involves wide range of stakeholders, such as cultural sector professionals, political decision-makers, civil servants, and public commentators. The discussion has been accelerated in part by the preparation of the 2024 Cultural Policy Report by Prime Minister Petteri Orpo’s government, as well as the historical cuts to culture for 2025 made by his government. At the same time, significant disruptions have occurred in recent years in the operational environment of the cultural sector and its funding, such as the global pandemic and the loss of the state gambling monopoly’s beneficiary status, which transferred funding for the arts and culture directly to the state budget. These sector specific changes, together with macro-level challenges, the heightened geopolitical tensions and exceptionally uncertain economic situation both in Finland and globally, raise fundamental questions about the role of culture for our society and how we choose to support the things that matter.

This thesis aims to contribute to this discussion by analyzing the 2024 Cultural Policy Report from the point of view of cultural funding and structures, by examining budget decisions implemented by the government, and assessing them in relation to the vision and proposed actions presented in the report. The findings of the analysis reveal at least a partial contradiction between the report’s objectives and actions and the concrete political decisions concerning cultural funding.

This thesis is a case study of cultural funding and its instruments in Finland, conducted as desk research through document analysis. The theoretical framework of the analysis is grounded in research literature on cultural policy and cultural funding as well as previous research on cultural funding and cultural governance in Finland. Consequently, the thesis provides the reader with a comprehensive and timely overview of state-level cultural funding instruments and structures in Finland, their development and current discussion concerning them.