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Observatorion uranuurtaja Eeva Anttila eläkkeelle

Suomen taide- ja kulttuurikasvatuksen observatorion kevätkokous järjestettiin kesäkuun alussa Tieteen ja toivon talolla. Kokouksessa oli erityistä juhlan tuntua, kun yksi observatorion perustajista, Taideyliopiston tanssipedagogiikan professori ja koko suomalaisen taidekasvatuksen kentän uraauurtava kehittäjä Eeva Anttila siirtyi kokouksen jälkeen eläköitymisensä myötä sivuun myös observatorion aktiivisesta toiminnasta. 

Tämä teksti on koottu Eevan merkitystä Observatoriolle ja laajemmin taidekasvatuksen kehitykselle esiin nostavista observatoriolaisten puheenvuoroista. Puheenvuorojen kautta piirtyy myös kuvaa itse Observatorion syntyhistoriasta. 

Yhteneväisten taidekasvatusnäkemysten yhteen tuomana Eeva, Lea Pulkkinen, Iina Berden ja Charlotta Swendler Nielsen synnyttivät idean Suomen taide- ja kulttuurikasvatuksen observatoriosta syksyllä 2016. OKM tuki observatorion perustamista seuraavana vuonna.

Eeva toimi Taideyliopiston suojiin perustetun observatorion hallinnollisena johtajana alusta asti. Hän pyrki rakentamaan matalaa hierarkiaa ja jaettua omistajuutta observatorion eri toimijoiden kesken. Yhteiset tavoitteet olivat rooleja tärkeämpiä. Määrätietoinen vaikuttamistyö on kantanut kymmenen vuoden aikana hedelmää, ja kuten observatorion koordinaattorina 2019-2025 toiminut Sunna Maijala tiivistää: ”Olen varma, että tietoisuus taidekasvatuksen tutkimuksesta, sen merkityksestä ja sovellettavuudesta on kasvanut huimasti näiden seitsemän vuoden aikana.” 

Eevan taidekasvatusnäkemystä ja siten myös työtä observatoriossa on määrittänyt alusta asti vahvasti monialaisuus. Hänen työnsä on vahvistanut niin yhteistyötä eri taidekasvatuksen alojen tutkimuksen välillä (esimerkiksi Eevan tutkimus kehollisuudesta on keskeistä myös kuvataidekasvatukselle) kuin myös erilaisten toimijoiden välillä. Jaana Nuottanen kuvaa Eevaa observatorion kantavaksi, koossapitäväksi ja liimaavaksi voimaksi. 

Eeva vahvisti suomalaista taidekasvatuksen tutkimusta, pitäen kansainvälisestikin merkittävän tutkimuksensa saavutettavana myös suomen kielellä. Tutkimus ei ole kuitenkaan jäänyt teoreettiselle tasolle, vaan Eeva on tehnyt paljon töitä sen tuomiseksi myös käytäntöön: pelottomasti, lempeän tiukasti, viisaasti ja empaattisesti hän on luotsannut niin observatoriota kuin laajemmin taidekasvatuksen toimijoita edistämään asioita, jotka ovat kriittisiä jotta taide- ja kulttuurikasvatus olisivat saavutettavia ja toteutuisivat kaikille demokraattisten yhteiskuntamme arvojen mukaisesti.

Eevan jälkeen, observatorion siirryttyä Aalto-yliopistoon vuoden 2026 alusta, hallinnollisen johtajan saappaisiin astunut Anniina Toiviainen tiivistää Eevan perintöä: ”Syvästi empaattinen, vahva ja viisas johtajuutesi jatkaa läsnäoloaan observatorion toiminnassa. Olet vahvistanut uskoamme siihen, että meillä on mahdollisuus vaikuttaa asioihin positiivisesti.” 

Nämä puheenvuorot muodostavat kuvan taidekasvatuksen uranuurtajasta, jonka työn jälki näkyy ja tuntuu suomalaisen taidekasvatuksen kentällä niin yksilö- kuin instituutiotasolla pitkään. Me observatoriolaiset vielä kerran kiitämme Eeva sinua korvaamattomasta panoksestasi ja toivotamme antoisia päiviä emeritana!

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 Artikkeli Lea Pulkkisen ja Eeva Anttilan työstä Harrastamisen Suomen mallin takana.

Eeva Anttilan työn ja uran juhlistamiseksi kirjoitettu  kokoaa yhteen laaja-alaisesti näkökulmia tanssi- ja taidepedagogiikasta Eevan työn vaikutuspiirissä toimineilta taidekasvatuksen ammattilaisilta.

Teksti: Mirja Hiltusen, Maria Huhmarniemen, Tuulikki Laeksen, Sunna Maijalan, Jaana Nuottasen, Lea Pulkkisen ja Anniina Toiviaisen Eevalle pitämien puheenvuorojen pohjalta koonnut ja referoinut Jari Koljonen

Matkaraportti: Inclusion in Action -konferenssi, Oslo 15.–16.6.2026

Osallistuin kesäkuussa Oslossa järjestettyyn Inclusion in Action -konferenssiin, jossa pidin esityksen suomalaisen taidekasvatuksen historiasta ja Lilli Törnuddin (1862–1929) ajattelusta. Oli hienoa päästä tuomaan kansainväliseen keskusteluun suomalaisen koulutuksen historiaa ja erityisesti Törnuddin ajatusta taiteesta kaikille kuuluvana osana koulutusta.

Konferenssissa oli poikkeuksellisen suvaitseva, toiveikas ja yhteisöllinen henki. Tilaisuus oli erittäin hyvin järjestetty, ja kiireettömässä ilmapiirissä jäi aikaa myös keskusteluille ja kansainväliselle verkostoitumiselle. Oma yhden yön matkani oli lyhyt irrottautuminen Opetushallituksen työstä. Sain osallistumiselle työnantajan hyväksynnän ja mahdollisuuden käyttää työaikaa konferenssiin ja kansainväliseen verkostoitumiseen. Matkan kustannuksista vastasin itse, sillä ”lukio, taiteen perusopetus ja vapaa sivistystyö ” osastoni kansainväliseen matkustamiseen käytettävissä olevat määrärahat ovat hyvin rajalliset.

Esitykseni Art for All – Lilli Törnudd’s Inclusive Legacy in Finnish School Art Education käsitteli Lilli Törnuddin työtä suomalaisen koulun ja taidekasvatuksen uudistajana. Törnuddin jo yli sata vuotta sitten esittämät ajatukset oppilaskeskeisestä koulusta, taiteen kuulumisesta kaikille sekä taidekasvatuksen merkityksestä kokonaisvaltaiselle kasvulle osoittautuivat yllättävän ajankohtaisiksi myös nykyisessä inkluusiota ja yhdenvertaisuutta koskevassa keskustelussa.

Konferenssissa keskusteltiin myös norjalaisesta Helga Engistä, joka oli Törnuddin aikalainen ja merkittävä lapsen kehityksen ja lasten kuvallisen ilmaisun tutkija. Oli kiinnostavaa verrata kahden pohjoismaisen naisen työtä ja erilaisia lähestymistapoja: Eng tarkasteli lapsen kehitystä tutkijana ja psykologina, kun taas Törnudd pyrki uudistamaan koulua ja taidekasvatusta sisältäpäin opettajana, opettajankouluttajana ja kouluhallinnon toimijana. Molempia yhdisti kuitenkin vakava kiinnostus lapseen, lapsen omaan ilmaisuun ja siihen, miten koulutus voisi paremmin tukea lapsen kasvua.

Esitykseni herätti keskustelua, jossa vertailimme eri maiden taidekasvatuksen nykytilaa julkisessa, kaikille yhteisessä koulutuksessa ja koulutuksen eri asteilla. Keskustelu vahvisti ajatusta siitä, että taidekasvatuksen asemaa, yhdenvertaista saavutettavuutta ja inklusiivisuutta koskevat kysymykset ovat lopultakin aika samankaltaisia eri maissa, vaikka koulutusjärjestelmät ja niiden rakenteet eroavat toisistaan. Tietenkin esimerkiksi, jos taide ei missään muodossa kuulu kouluinstituution tuntijakoon, kuten Puolassa, tilanne on aika erilainen kuin esim. Norjassa ja Suomessa jossa taideaineet ovat oppiaineita muiden joukossa.

Matkasta jäi erityisesti mieleen vahva kansainvälisen yhteisöllisyyden kokemus. Taidekasvatuksen, yhdenvertaisuuden ja inklusiivisuuden puolestapuhujat tuntuivat konferenssissa muodostavan eräänlaisen suuren kansainvälisen perheen. Oli rohkaisevaa huomata, kuinka paljon yhteisiä tavoitteita meillä on ja kuinka tärkeää on päästä välillä tarkastelemaan omaa työtä suomalaisen koulutuksen ulkopuolelta.

Olen erittäin kiitollinen siitä, että sain mahdollisuuden osallistua konferenssiin, esitellä suomalaista taidekasvatuksen historiaa kansainväliselle yleisölle sekä luoda uusia yhteyksiä pohjoismaisiin ja muihin eurooppalaisiin taidekasvatuksen asiantuntijoihin. Lyhytkin kansainvälinen kohtaaminen voi antaa uusia näkökulmia omaan työhön ja muistuttaa siitä, että Suomessa tehtävä koulutuksen ja taidekasvatuksen kehittämistyö on osa paljon laajempaa kansainvälistä keskustelua.

Teksti ja kuvat: Alma Muukka-Marjovuo

The status of arts subjects must be strengthened in basic education

Arts and cultural education is an important part of building a diverse worldview and general knowledge for children and young people.

The Ministry of Education and Culture’s report Comprehensive school 2045: A vision for the Finnish comprehensive school presents the idea of the school as a community that builds faith in the future by enabling children and young people to experience their own capacities, human connection and the possibility of influencing the world. For us art education researchers the idea of being part of change is familiar. Art awakens emotions, challenges norms, opens new perspectives and supports the readiness to take part in changing the world.

Arts and cultural education is an important part of building a diverse worldview and general knowledge for children and young people. Research data shows unequivocally that high-quality arts and cultural education also significantly supports general learning readiness. Nevertheless, the reduction of lesson hours and resources for arts subjects has been a long-standing trend in basic education.

Due to the removal of arts subjects from teacher education, an increasing number of classroom teachers do not have sufficient basic skills to teach arts subjects. At the same time, for example, Helsinki has removed subject teachers of music from primary schools. This development reflects a narrowed understanding of the significance of arts subjects for the holistic development and learning of children and young people.

The quantitative reduction in arts subjects has also led to a situation where an increasing number of children and young people are left without personal contact with art. This cultural inequality increases harmful social segregation. Strengthening arts education in basic education is therefore also important from the perspective of equality and equity.

The above-mentioned vision for comprehensive school has also attracted criticism, and there have been calls for it to focus on so-called basic skills, that is reading, writing and arithmetic. However, two annual weekly lesson hours have already been added to the mother tongue and literature subject and one annual weekly lesson hour to mathematics in basic education. In this way the proportion of academic subjects in relation to arts and skills subjects has become even more skewed. This is contrary to the view produced by the latest learning research, which emphasises embodiment, multi-sensory experience, communality, activity and creativity as prerequisites for growth and learning.

We need a change of direction in how the significance of arts subjects is understood in implementing the general educational mission of the comprehensive school. On the basis of solid research evidence, the status of arts subjects in basic education should be strengthened instead of being cut back in the belief that pupils’ basic skills are strengthened only by studying academic subjects. The vision’s goal for comprehensive school, to build for young people ‘shared capacity to change the world’, arises from the ability to imagine otherwise, interpret, express, encounter others, act together and deal with conflicts. These are precisely the skills that arts subjects develop.

Eeva Anttila
Professor of dance pedagogy
University of the Arts Helsinki, Theatre Academy

Mirja Hiltunen
Professor of art education
University of Lapland

Tuulikki Laes
University researcher in music education, University of the Arts Helsinki

Members of the Observatory for Arts and Cultural Education, Finland

This article was previously published as an opinion piece in Helsingin Sanomat on 9 March 2026.

Strengthening equal leisure opportunities for children and proposal for a new research package

Article 31 of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child addresses, among other things, the child’s right to rest, play, recreational activities and free participation in artistic and cultural life. By 2 June 2023, the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child had issued Finland with around 50 comments, which also concern article 31 and show that its implementation still has shortcomings, both in terms of the adequacy and usability of the knowledge base:

1. It must be ensured that physical exercise, recreation, leisure and cultural and artistic activities are accessible to all, including girls, persons with disabilities, asylum seekers, immigrants, those in a socioeconomically disadvantaged position and those living in rural areas. 
2. It must be ensured that every municipality provides free leisure activities for children
3. Measures to combat discrimination, ill treatment and harassment in sport must be strengthened, and all reports of ill treatment and harassment must be thoroughly investigated. 
4. Children must be involved in the planning and evaluation of the activities covered by article 31.  
    

In addition, children should be able to pursue hobbies for their pleasure and recreation without excessive demands and pressure and also over the long term if they so wish. Research shows that the beneficial impact of hobbies on the child’s development is then realised.

By what practical means is art. 31 well implemented and how can it be ensured that the combined effect of the different activities in a child’s life does not reduce wellbeing?

When examining the child’s wellbeing in hobbies, groups of children at risk of exclusion should also be taken into account. For example, the 2024 implementation plan for the child strategy proposes a project to promote the realisation of the child’s rights related to hobbies and overall wellbeing by collecting research data and best practices. Ideally, both a research review of what has been done so far should be carried out and a new research project launched with clearly formulated scientific objectives and controlled implementation. This would produce results that justify conclusions on practical applications. The following points should be taken into account:

1. A sample drawn from different geographical areas (rural/urban) and age groups (primary school pupils, lower secondary pupils and upper secondary and vocational students), enriched so that the sample includes vulnerable groups. This would allow comparison between groups when examining the results. 
2. Wellbeing of those who participate in hobbies and those who do not, examined with pre- and post-measurements. Wellbeing criteria should be defined, such as the child’s satisfaction with different aspects of their life, the burden of time use, loneliness, number of friends, amount of bullying and how the child is treated.
3. Factors affecting wellbeing, such as amount of rest, forms of time use (such as digital devices and other individual activities), amount of participation in hobbies, content, quality (instructor’s competence) and guidance (duration and whether it is placed in connection with the school day) and the duration of school transport.

The research would yield information on what kind of time use structure, content of activities and amount of hobbies (weekly intensity or duration in years) and versatility is in the child’s best interests for children of different ages and different kinds of children living in different geographical or cultural conditions, taking into account those in vulnerable positions (persons with disabilities, members of minority groups, those living in poverty, asylum seekers and immigrants).  

How do hobbies best meet children’s wishes?

Research on how hobbies best meet children’s wishes could be carried out using the same data as in the research proposal presented in the previous paragraph, but in that case attention would be focused on surveys or interviews directed at children and young people about their wishes and how these are realised in hobbies or outside them. At the same time, information would also be obtained on the above-mentioned recommendation of the Committee on the Rights of the Child concerning children’s participation in the planning and evaluation of activities. The Finnish model for leisure activities includes the requirement that activities must be organised in accordance with children’s wishes, but how much children can influence the planning and evaluation of activities is another question. In order to identify their wishes, children’s opportunities to familiarise themselves with different hobbies must be safeguarded, for example through a video presentation prepared for this purpose. In this way new hobby opportunities can also be highlighted. Children cannot wish for something they do not know.

The proposed research package would significantly complement the knowledge base and the usability of information concerning the time use and hobbies of children and young people and would support the further development of the Finnish model for leisure activities.

Equality of children and prevention of inequality, particularly for children and young people in vulnerable positions and at risk of discrimination

In order to strengthen leisure opportunities for all children and young people, it would be necessary to take into account all subgroups specified in the 2023 recommendation of the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child: different genders, persons with disabilities, asylum seekers, immigrants, those in a socioeconomically disadvantaged position and those living in rural areas, as well as different levels of education: primary school pupils, lower secondary pupils and those in vocational and general upper secondary education. Information should cover both hobbies in connection with school and basic education in the arts. It is good that the child strategy’s action plan highlights the objective of recognising the importance of basic education in the arts as part of the education system and strengthening it so that it is possible for an increasing number of children in different parts of the country. Achieving this objective, however, requires better information on how children can gain access to basic education in the arts. It is particularly important here to take into account children and young people who are in vulnerable positions and at risk of discrimination.

Previous studies show that information distributed by the school to both pupils and parents through various means, ultimately by the class teacher, reaches families most reliably. Parents’ responsibility for their children’s upbringing also requires that parents be informed. Providing information to parents can give crucial support for participation in leisure activities, and co-operation with parents can be of essential importance for the long-term nature of a hobby and, especially in the case of those with a foreign background, for the integration of the whole family into Finnish society


This text has been prepared on the basis of the statement submitted by the Finnish Observatory for Arts and Cultural Education. The statement concerned the implementation plan (2024) of the national child strategy during the Orpo government’s term, and it was submitted on 26 April 2024. In its statement, the observatory focused on the relationship between article 31 of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child and the draft implementation plan for the child strategy. 

High-quality arts education supports general learning skills

Minister of Education Anders Adlercreutz (Swedish People’s Party) highlighted the importance of arts and skills subjects in basic education (HS 12 August). As arts education researchers, we share the minister’s view. Research shows unequivocally that high-quality arts education supports not only the areas mentioned by the minister, but also general learning skills.

However, the position of arts education in basic education has weakened in recent decades. There is an imbalance in our country’s education policy between literacy and arts and skills subjects, which ignores the holistic nature of human development as well as the diversity of strengths and interests. The opportunity to pursue and study art has become increasingly concentrated among children and young people whose homes are already rich in art and culture. At the same time, contact with art is failing to materialise for an ever larger proportion of children and young people. This cultural inequality also exacerbates another problem mentioned by the minister, segregation.

Arts education in basic education opens up opportunities for those who would otherwise be excluded from art and culture. In this way it strengthens equality and equity. The status of arts subjects in basic education must therefore be strengthened, taking into account the diverse range of art forms. Comprehensive school must also enable personal experience of those art forms that are not yet included among the subjects taught. These art forms include, for example, dance, theatre and circus art, in which performance skills, also highlighted by the minister, are central.

High-quality teaching of arts subjects that reaches all pupils is an increasingly important part of a general education school system. The power of arts education to counteract social inequality must finally be recognised in Finnish education policy.

Eeva Anttila
professor

Tuulikki Laes
Academy Research Fellow

University of the Arts Helsinki

This text was originally published in Helsingin Sanomat as an opinion piece on 22 August 2024.

Observatory’s recommendations to the minister: Challenges in the arts and culture sector require comprehensively planned support measures

The Observatory for Arts and Cultural Education, Finland took part in science and culture minister Annika Saarikko’s round table discussion on the future prospects of the cultural sector in September 2020. This blog article briefly presents our recommendations regarding the sector’s challenges.

Art strengthens resilience, that is the persistent capacity to cope, which is needed in pandemic times
Society’s investments in access to art and art education are at the same time investments in strengthening resilience and cultural wellbeing. At the Finnish observatory for arts and cultural education we believe that the short- and long-term development needs in the arts and culture sector require both arts and culture actors and the government to have a stronger awareness than at present of the sector’s challenges and structures, as well as comprehensively planned support measures.

Arts and culture bring hope in the corona era
In the exceptional circumstances caused by the coronavirus epidemic, arts and culture have a vital task in helping people to strengthen and diversify their personal relationship with art and culture and through this to face and process both the expectations and value base of a good life and the emotions caused by the epidemic. In a broad sense, art and culture can also generate hope and stabilising coping mechanisms amidst uncertainty. In addition, we see that participation in arts and culture can significantly support the restoration of mutual trust between people and groups and thus support collective recovery from the coronavirus epidemic.

Arts and culture can promote the development of persistent coping capacity, among other things by strengthening creative thinking, bringing balance to life, supporting reminiscence, strengthening self-esteem, helping to process grief and to find meaning even in difficult experiences. However, arts do not automatically increase resilience. The development of a personal relationship with art starts from encountering art and active participation in the arts, which requires appropriate guidance. Much depends on how an individual’s personal relationship with art is developed, that is, on how pedagogical interaction is realised in artistic activities.

Support and guidance for professionals during the pandemic
We propose that in the short term the government prioritises measures that help arts, culture and arts education professionals and organisations to cope with the effects of the coronavirus pandemic. At the moment, there is a great deal of expertise and potential in the arts and culture sector in Finland, professionals whose employment and economic situation has become even weaker due to the pandemic. We believe that it is wise and far-sighted to harness this potential for long-term and sustainable use right now.

It must be ensured that artists, art teachers and artist-researchers engaged in art-based crisis work have access to both training and supervisory support, for example in the form of group supervision. This requires allocating separate resources for crisis work to arts, culture and arts education organisations – not only for paying the salaries of arts educators and artists but also for comprehensively developing service concepts that respond to the corona crisis. We consider it important that the government recognises the specific expertise and potential of arts educators and artists in strengthening people’s relationship with art and culture at all ages. This can increase resilience and thus also help in coping with the crisis.

A pilot experimental subject for lower secondary schools and upper secondary schools
Children and young people need opportunities to take part in arts and culture so that they learn to value their significance in their own lives and in society. We believe that the status of arts and skills subjects in general education must be strengthened. We propose a pilot project to the government that would introduce a new experimental subject in lower secondary schools and upper secondary schools. Its aim would be to demonstrate that arts and cultural knowledge, experientiality and young people’s own perspectives can be widely utilised in other subjects, to increase young people’s interest in cultural heritage and cultural offerings and thereby create a basis for building a lifelong relationship with art and culture that strengthens resilience and increases wellbeing.

The government must ensure that the digitalisation of teaching that began during the coronavirus epidemic continues. The government must provide educational institutions with financial resources to acquire appropriate equipment and software, as well as for training teachers and other staff to promote the digital transformation. In this way, access to teaching in exceptional circumstances is ensured, access to arts education is developed and the opportunities provided by technology in developing arts education are utilised.

More cultural education plans and outreach culture work
In the long term, we see that the government must, by all existing and new means, promote a stronger recognition in arts, culture and arts education organisations of people’s cultural diversity and mutual differences. In addition, the government must promote the preparation and above all the implementation of cultural education plans in municipalities. Cultural education plans must take into account outreach culture work as a means of reaching particularly those children and young people who are at risk of marginalisation. Outreach culture work means offering a cultural hobby tailored to a child or young person who would not otherwise know how to seek or be able to access such an activity (Turpeinen et al. 2019). To promote the realisation of cultural wellbeing for all Finns and people living in Finland, the government must also ensure that every region in Finland has a regional cultural wellbeing plan as a strategic regional document, positioned within the overall framework of regional health promotion.

The role of arts and the humanities in school
The government should treat with great caution the measures proposed by the economic organisation OECD (Global Education Reform Movement, GERM) as part of overcoming the exceptional situation caused by COVID-19. In these proposals, narrow economic interests are decisive. Consciously preserving and developing the Finnish school model requires a significant role for arts and humanistic knowledge in teaching and opportunities for voluntary artistic hobbies to support personal growth.

The potential of research must be utilised better
We also believe that the government should take better account than at present of the potential of art research, artistic research, arts education research and cultural studies when seeking multidisciplinary solutions to societal challenges and opportunities. In addition, the government must clearly promote cooperation between the arts, culture and arts education sector and research so that meaningful research-based national data can be collected on the sector’s significant work.

More agile and more equal arts organisations
Arts, culture and arts education organisations must develop their own resilience and agility to work in mutual cooperation and in cooperation with other sectors, as well as to develop new service concepts and distribution channels. For the realisation of cultural fundamental rights and the strengthening of cultural wellbeing, it is vital that arts and culture organisations become more aware than before of the mechanisms of inequality that operate in their activities and services and commit themselves to dismantling them.

The statement and its grounds are available in full by email. You can send a request for further information to observatorio@aalto.fi.

Taking part in artistic activities can strengthen the ability to recover from setbacks and carry on with life

Art offers an opportunity to calm down, focus, gather one’s thoughts and reflect on life’s questions in the presence of art and through artistic means.

The UN has warned of a global mental health crisis as a consequence of the coronavirus epidemic. In Finland, mental health problems have already been increasing since before the epidemic, wrote editor-in-chief Anu Ubaud (HS Column 24 May). Mental health problems often begin with setbacks – a person feels they are not coping. Coping is usually a question of resilience, that is, a person’s ability to recover from setbacks, adapt to changes and continue with life.

According to researcher Edith Grotberg, who has studied children’s development, the sense of security provided by good human relationships forms the basis for the development of resilience. Children’s resilience can be strengthened by supporting early interaction between child and parent. For example, in Tampere there is a father–baby circus available through maternity and child health clinics. Participatory circus activities are used to strengthen the development of trust between parent and child.

Resilience can be reinforced by taking part in the arts. Experimenting with several possible solutions, which is central to artistic activity, can help individuals think flexibly about their own situation and thus find alternative solutions to their problems. Creating something new in art also involves uncertainty. One approaches, with curiosity, something that is not yet known or mastered. In this way, artistic activity can strengthen courage and patience as well as the ability to tolerate uncertainty and failure.

When a hectic life pulls us in different directions, art offers an opportunity to calm down, focus, gather one’s thoughts and reflect on life’s questions in the presence of art and through artistic means. Philosophers Alain de Botton and John Armstrong write in their book Art as Therapy that art helps to balance our lives. Art does not automatically increase resilience, however, as this requires a personal relationship with art. The emergence of such a relationship begins with encountering art and actively taking part in artistic activities.

High-quality pedagogical interaction is needed for a positive personal relationship with art to begin and develop. School arts education and basic education in the arts have a key role here. The Finnish Observatory for Arts and Cultural Education has recently also highlighted extracurricular hobby activities in schools as an attempt to reach especially those children and young people who do not have hobbies and whose risk of social exclusion is greatest.

The opportunities of adults and older people to engage in the arts, regardless of their abilities or life situation, should also be supported, researchers in the ArtsEqual research project coordinated by the University of the Arts Helsinki state. Better integration of participatory artistic activities into services that promote wellbeing and health is a way to strengthen people’s resilience and, more broadly, cultural wellbeing. In arts education for adults provided by adult education centres and workers’ institutes, the perspective of cultural wellbeing should also be taken into account much more strongly than at present.

Kai Lehikoinen
CERADA Research Centre Director

This article was previously published as a letter to the editor in Helsingin Sanomat on 1 June 2020.

The importance of art is crucial in overcoming a crisis

Art is at the heart of a civilised society. Its importance is highlighted especially when people and communities face difficulties.

Art reaches towards the future, it helps us to see differently, it awakens the imagination and helps us see light where there is darkness. Art brings comfort, as seeing differently reveals alternative ways to experience meaning and significance in life.

It can be observed that in exceptional circumstances people’s creative potential bubbles up strongly and seeks new forms and channels of expression. The emerging need in people to express and share their experiences could be channelled into processing the ongoing crisis, sharing and expressing experiences, building images of the future, awakening hope.

Art cannot save the world, but its importance for the survival of individuals and communities can be crucial. Art can also be part of a broader social change towards a more sustainable way of life.

Aesthetic experiences develop our powers of perception and sensitise us to recognise changes taking place in nature and in our cultural environment. Valuing and protecting diversity is also the foundation of a democratic society. Art can give a voice to the silent and highlight injustices that rational linguistic expression does not reach.

A wise society cherishes art and culture in the midst of a crisis and recognises their value in building the future. For children and young people, engaging in art is particularly meaningful, as it can strengthen their belief in their own ability to make a difference and support their courage to express their views on the direction of the future.

Several Finnish and international studies (for example Metsäpelto & Pulkkinen 2015; Catterall, Dumais & Hampden-Thompson 2012) support the view that personal experiences with art provide children and young people not only with immediate experiences of meaning but also with cultural inclusion and, as a result, positive long-term effects far into the future.

It is important that this crisis does not water down the initiatives recorded in the government programme, whose purpose is to provide children and young people with more equal opportunities to engage in art and culture. Practising art and culture is especially important for those children and young people who are currently experiencing loneliness, anxiety and fear and who cannot by themselves find ways to express and share their experiences.

Many other vulnerable groups are also being left without their normal basic services, including opportunities to process their emotions in a communal way. The means of art and art education would provide many with invaluable opportunities to feel that others care about them and listen to them, and that their human dignity too is indivisible.

How could the healing power of art be further strengthened and supported by public action?

There is a vast number of professionals in art and art education in Finland. Even in normal circumstances their livelihood often consists of small streams. Now, for many, those streams have dried up.

In the current crisis situation, it is therefore important that artists and art educators hear from the state not only that the collapse of their livelihood has been noted and will be rectified, but also that the work of art professionals is central to our society’s survival.

It is time to say aloud that art is not an extra decoration and a source of aesthetic pleasure for a select, privileged audience. Art is a basic need and a basic service which, according to human rights agreements, belongs to all citizens. Enabling the meeting of people’s needs and skilled professionals requires strong will and purposeful action from the state.

Our society is now facing unprecedented challenges. Instead of seeing art as an expense and a target for cuts, it must now be seen as a key part of the solution to the crisis.

Our country has expertise and will, and placing art among the significant means of solving the crisis does not significantly increase its costs. On the contrary, investing in art as part of surviving the crisis is a humane, socially and culturally sustainable choice.

Eeva Anttila
Professor
University of the Arts Helsinki

This article was originally published in Turun Sanomat on 28 April 2020.

It is important to reach those children who do not yet have a hobby

In line with the Government Programme, the Ministry of Education and Culture has set up a working group to prepare the Finnish model, which will provide all children and young people with an opportunity to have a hobby in connection with the school day.

The Observatory for Arts and Cultural Education, Finland emphasises that all activities concerning children and young people should stress pedagogical competence and good quality.

The recent public debate on the abuse of power in leisure activities for children and young people has been sad reading. Encouraging, however, is that we are finally ready to face these difficult themes.

The Ministry of Education and Culture, as well as operators in the fields of art and sports, are also willing to discuss and seek solutions to the problem. In the cases that have come to public attention, the issue has been the responsible adult’s inability to create an atmosphere in which skills are developed safely.

A safe hobby environment is created through open, accepting and encouraging encounters between adults and children, as well as constructive interaction between children.

In Finland we are fortunate to have thousands of trained art, culture and sports pedagogues. Their professional skills should be used in implementing the Finnish model. A safe and encouraging hobby environment must be created for everyone, and especially for those whose threshold for taking up hobbies outside school is for one reason or another high.

The key aim of the Finnish model is to reach all children and young people, including those who do not yet have a hobby at all. Research shows that increasing the supply is not enough, as the additional provision often targets those who are already active.

Therefore, the Finnish model must apply and develop methods of outreach youth and cultural work. Extensive and multi-professional cooperation between, among others, educational and cultural services, organisers of leisure activities and parents is essential.

Listening to the wishes and needs of children and young people, along with the pedagogical quality, safety and encouragement of the activities, will ensure that pupils feel comfortable, become enthusiastic and are motivated to continue with their hobbies.

Anniina Suominen
Professor of Art Education, Aalto University

Eeva Anttila
Professor of Dance Pedagogy, University of the Arts Helsinki

Viivi Seirala
Executive Director, Finnish Association for Basic Education in the Arts

This article was originally published in ‘Helsingin Sanomat’ on 7 March 2020.

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