Press release

Hilja Grönfors and Vilhelm Helander awarded title of Art Academic

Alexander Stubb, President of the Republic of Finland, has awarded the title of Art Academic to master folk singer and musician Hilja Grönfors and architect, professor emeritus Vilhelm Helander.
Tasavallan presidentti Alexander Stubb, taiteen uudet akateemikot Hilja Grönfors ja Vilhelm Helander sekä ministeri Sari Multala ryhmäkuvassa Ritarihuoneella
Hilja Grönfors (photo Minna Hatinen / University of the Arts Helsinki) and Vilhelm Helander.

Musician Hilja Grönfors (b. 1952) is a master folk singer and preserver of the Finnish Roma craft and song tradition. She has also worked as a teacher of the Roma language and musical tradition and served as the chairperson of the support association of the Museum of Finnish Roma Culture.

Architect Vilhelm Helander (b. 1941) has specialised in building conservation and conversions. He works actively in projects related to restoration and in current discussions related to the preservation of buildings.

The President of the Republic of Finland awards the title of Art Academic to highly distinguished artists based on a proposal by the Central Arts Council. The title is for life. There can be up to 11 Art Academics at the same time.

Other Art Academics include visual artist Eija-Liisa Ahtila, photographer Caj Bremer, film director Pirjo Honkasalo, dance artist Marjo Kuusela, author Hannu Mäkelä, textile and fashion artist Vuokko Nurmesniemi, conductor Jorma Panula, playwright and director Sirkku Peltola, and performance artist Roi Vaara. Following the passing away of architect Juha Leiviskä and composer Kaija Saariaho, the title of Art Academic was temporarily held by nine distinguished artists.

Grounds for awarding the title of Art Academic to Hilja Grönfors

Hilja Grönfors is a master folk singer and preserver of the Finnish Roma craft and song tradition. Granting the title of Art Academic to Grönfors is justified by her versatility as a crafts artist in the Roma tradition, as a teacher of the Roma language and musical tradition, and in recognition of her prominent position as chairperson of the support association of the Museum of Finnish Roma Culture. Grönfors has received several important awards in recognition of popularising and recording Roma music, including the title of Champion Folk Singer at the Kaustinen Folk Music Festival in 2005, IFPI Finland’s Ethno-Emma Award in 2008, the Kalevala Prize in 2011, and the Finland Prize in 2014. In 2024, Grönfors was awarded an honorary doctorate by the University of the Arts Helsinki.

Hilja Grönfors's career as a public performer began at a Roma festival. Starting in the 1970s, Grönfors lived for a long time in Sweden, where she also appeared on television and radio. After returning to Finland in 1986, Grönfors went through a religious phase and directed her musical interest to the songs of free Christian churches and especially Pentecostals.

Grönfors made her first recordings on the acclaimed Roma song anthology Luludžako Drom (1996) produced by Raila Halmetoja. In addition to several other compilation recordings, she has released three of her own albums together with her band Latšo Džinta. She received the Etno-Emma award for her album Phurane miritš in 2008. In the same year, Grönfors appeared as the main character in the television documentary Eihän tämä maa minun maani ollut (“This Country Was Not Mine” by film director Katarina Lillqvist.

Hilja Grönfors has performed extensively at domestic and international festivals. In addition to major concerts, Grönfors has also considered small-scale and intimate performances and school performances with related lectures to be important. She has been a respected guest teacher at the folk music department of the Sibelius Academy for many years.

Hilja Grönfors has recorded traditional Roma songs both from memory and by noting them down. Songs from archives have been transferred to her own concert repertoire and sheet music publications. Later, the song traditions collected by Grönfors have been recorded. Other Roma culture, especially the craft tradition, has also been an important part of Grönfors’s everyday life. Her collection of röijy Roma shirts has been exhibited at several music festivals.

Grounds for awarding the title of Art Academic to Vilhelm Helander

Professor emeritus, architect Vilhelm Helander (b. 1941) graduated from Helsinki University of Technology in 1967 with a degree in architecture and in 1972 with an additional licentiate degree. From 1985 to 2004, he served as Professor of Architecture History at Helsinki University of Technology (now Aalto University). He founded his own architectural office with Juha Leiviskä in 1978.

Helander has specialised in building conservation and conversions. He has planned demanding renovations in which the focus has been on respecting and preserving the architectural values ​​of different eras. The most well-known of these projects include the Old Students’ House in Helsinki, the landscape restoration plan for the Suomenlinna sea fortress, and the town halls in Pori and Porvoo, as well as projects for the Finnish National Museum, Helsinki Cathedral and the House of Sciences and Letters. The renovation of the House of the Estates, for which Helander served as the chief designer of the restoration work, received the Europa Nostra award in 1992.

Helander is recognised for his significant merits as a developer of the Nordic building conservation theory and has written several works on urban construction and renovation construction. Already in the 1970s, Helander and architect Mikael Sundman became known with their polemical work Kenen Helsinki? (“Whose Helsinki?”), which was awarded the Eino Leino Prize. Helander and photographer Simo Rista’s book Suomalainen rakennustaide – Modern Architecture in Finland is one of the most significant works of Finnish architecture in the 20th century.

Helander is a recipient of the State Award for Public Information and the State Award for Building and Community Planning, and he is a member of the Academia Europaea. Helander is the first Finn to receive the European Gold Medal for the Preservation of Historical Monuments. In addition, he has been awarded the Pro Finlandia Medal and the Engel Prize for Church Art.

Helander continues to be active in restoration projects and topical debates related to the preservation of buildings.