Central Arts Council awards state grant for social media art campaign to Nuoren Voiman Liitto

The campaign will be implemented in the form of a dialogue between members of parliament, artists and the general public. During the next parliamentary elections, members of parliament will be asked to respond to the question “What is the significance of art?” Based on the responses, artists will create a work of art – each employing the techniques of his or her own chosen artform. Altogether 200 artists will be invited to create the multidisciplinary artwork.

A documentary film of the project will also be produced. Members of the public will get to participate and follow the dialogue on social media channels, and public comments will be included in the film. Politicians will also be challenged to raise funds for the arts during their election campaigns. Members of the public can participate in the funding through a crowdfunding platform. The funds raised will be distributed evenly among the participating artists. A top 10 list of the most tweeted politicians during the campaign will be compiled, and the most active tweeters among the public will be rewarded. Politicians will be entitled to use images from their meetings with the artists on their campaign websites.

The campaign will be launched on Arts Promotion Day, 1 December 2014 and end in August 2015 at the EspooCine festival.

“The aim is to enhance the appreciation of art among the general public and decision-makers, as well as to encourage new parties to begin funding the arts,” says Tiina Rosenberg, Chair of the Central Arts Council.

Groups of professional artists representing different artforms were invited to apply for the state grant for planning and implementing a social media art campaign. The proposal by Nuoren Voiman Liitto was selected by the Central Arts Council from among 34 applications received by the deadline.

The Central Arts Council is an expert body of the Ministry of Education and Culture and the Arts Promotion Centre Finland. The Central Arts Council decides the number, names and roles of the national arts councils and appoints the members of both the national and regional arts councils. It also makes decisions regarding the use of development funds allocated to the Central Arts Council. In 2014 the Central Arts Council was allocated 40,000 euros in development funds.

Further information: Minna Sirnö, Director, Arts Promotion Centre Finland, t. +358 295 330 719, [email protected]