The Helsinki-Uusimaa Cultural Market created over 200 events and thousands of cultural encounters
The Helsinki-Uusimaa Cultural Market project, which is now coming to an end, brought culture to new audiences and created work opportunities for artists. This included supporting cultural purchases by municipalities and launching the popular Cultural Market networking event. All 26 municipalities in the Helsinki-Uusimaa region took part in the project, which was led by the Helsinki-Uusimaa Regional Council.
Music memories, manga and museum visits
In autumn 2024, municipalities published their own purchase announcements at the first Cultural Market event, with the aim of reaching groups that might otherwise be left outside cultural life. Each municipality received EUR 3,000 from the project, and some municipalities added their own funding. More than 1,000 offers were received from cultural providers.
“Over the past year, the range of events and the number of encounters have been impressive. With support from the project’s purchasing funds, a total of 223 events were organised, with nearly 5,000 participants,” says Project coordinator Päivi Komsi-Karppi.
In Lovisa, artist Mirella Pendolin met seniors living at home. During the meetings, they talked about life and music memories, sang together, and put together song lists based on the participants’ music memories. The work ended with sing-along concerts across the city, with programmes built on shared music memories.
In Kirkkonummi, CreateFest offered free manga, comics and painting workshops for young people. The young people were able to vote on the kind of activities they wanted.
In Hyvinkää, the aim was to make it easier for immigrants to visit museums, in cooperation with integration services and Hyria Vocational School. The cultural activities at Museokeskus Taika were purchased from three providers. The activities received very positive feedback and are planned to continue in 2026.
The project also encouraged municipalities to make joint purchases, as many cultural providers want to offer activities in several locations. Mäntsälä and Pornainen hired a shared cultural instructor, who ran workshops in both municipalities. The experience was positive for both the municipalities and the cultural instructor, and they also recommend the model to other municipalities.
Learn more about the cultural services municipalities purchased with support from the project:
Towards a national Culture Bank
One of the aims of the Helsinki-Uusimaa Cultural Market project was to strengthen cooperation between municipalities and wellbeing services counties and to develop new approaches to cultural wellbeing. During the project, new networks were also formed that will be useful for both municipalities and stakeholders in the future.
The main idea behind the project was to prepare municipalities and providers for the Culture Bank to expand from Pirkanmaa to a national level. Culture Bank is an online service that brings together cultural professionals and their services in one place. In the Helsinki-Uusimaa region, Culture Bank has already been introduced gradually in three languages.
“Going forward, staff in municipalities and wellbeing services counties will be able to easily find arts and culture professionals through Culture Bank,” says Katriina Rosavaara from Helsinki-Uusimaa Regional Council.
For more information, please contact:
Katriina Rosavaara
Senior Adviser
katriina.rosavaara@uudenmaanliitto.fi
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