A cut of 100,000 euros to operational funding will reduce Frame’s programme activities and cause temporary layoffs. Additionally, the state subsidy for grants awarded by Frame was cut by a third.
The Finnish Ministry of Education and Culture has published this year’s funding decisions for nationwide arts and culture organisations. Following the Finnish government’s cuts to the culture sector, the organisations’ funding decreased by over €2 million.
Frame’s operational funding was cut by 15%, decreasing from €682 000 to €580 000. This follows the €38,000 cut in Frame’s funding in 2024. In addition, the state subsidy for grants awarded by Frame went down by 36%, from €260 000 to €167 000. Frame’s grants support international exhibitions and other projects of Finnish contemporary art abroad. Each year, more than 160 different projects have been funded.
Operational funding of other art information centres also decreased by 15–27% compared to the previous year. In addition, the funding for visual arts organisations, such as the Finnish Artists’ Association (-25%), AV-arkki (-19%), Helsinki Kunsthalle (-29%), the Finnish Comics Society (-28%) and Kuvittajat ry (The Finnish Illustration Association) (-41%), was cut significantly.
“Cuts on this scale are catastrophic for the entire cultural sector. They radically undermine the possibilities of making, presenting, promoting, and distributing art in Finland. The cuts will have a direct impact on art export and employment in the sector,” says Juha Huuskonen, CEO of Frame.
“Frame’s grants support effectively international operations of arts and culture, which is also an aim in the Government Programme and the Cultural Policy Report currently in the works. Even before this, many great projects have gone unfunded, and now a third of the grants have been cut.”
The cut of €100 000 in Frame’s operational funding effects significantly Frame’s programme activities, such as planned international collaborations and curator visits. In addition, the staff will face temporary layoffs.
Overall, this year’s cut in the culture and arts budget amounts to €17.4 million. This includes a €4.6 million cut in grants from the Arts Promotion Centre, which impacts particularly the independent arts field and small arts organisations. In the visual arts, The Finnish Artists’ Studio Foundation, the Union of Finnish Art Associations, the Ostrobothnia Photo Center POVA, Fotocentrum Raseborg, Art School Maa, and the Free Art School lost their operational funding.
For 2026, the government has planned additional cuts of up to €75 million for culture.
“This is not only about weakening the arts organisations, but about what kind of society we want to build. One that is mentally, culturally, and economically backward – or a civilised state that prides itself on culture, art, and creativity as its assets?” Juha Huuskonen asks.
The cultural policy report included in the government programme is currently being discussed in the Parliament committees. In addition, a strategy for the growth of the creative industries is currently being prepared. A strategy for the international activities of the Arts Promotion Centre is due to be finalised in the summer. Finland’s cultural funding and the share of the creative industries in Finland’s exports are currently below the EU average.
For more information:
Juha Huuskonen
CEO, Frame Contemporary Art Finland
juha.huuskonen@frame-finland.fi
T. +358 40 570 9617