The spring has been active and diverse for advocacy at the Artists’ Association of Finland. Attention has turned towards next year’s parliamentary elections. We have actively met with parliamentary parties and raised in discussions challenges related to social security, the expansion of the exhibition payment model, copyright compensation, the percentage principle for public art, and issues related to taxation. In this blog, Melissa Ahlberg, Communications and Advocacy Specialist at the Artists’ Association of Finland, outlines what this spring’s advocacy work has involved.
The Artists’ Association of Finland carries out determined and systematic advocacy work to promote a vibrant visual arts sector and to improve artists’ livelihoods and working conditions.
Spring 2026 has been particularly active from the perspective of advocacy. The key themes of our advocacy work have included artists’ unemployment security, combined insurance, and the studio deduction under the Income Tax Act. We communicated about the decisions of the Government’s spending limits session in May (read the article in finnish). The spending limits session did not provide measures to support artists’ livelihoods or growth in the visual arts sector, but it did not bring significant new cuts either. Above all, this spring we have directed our attention towards the forthcoming parliamentary elections and the next Government Programme.
At the beginning of the year, joint Government Programme objectives for the visual arts sector were published together with Frame and Kuvasto. The sector’s key challenges are addressed through three themes: 1. Funding for the visual arts brought to an equitable level, 2. Visual artists are entitled to remuneration for their work and for the use of their works, and 3. Making Finnish art visible both near and far. The discussions held during the spring have been built around these three objectives.
We have visited Parliament frequently and met representatives of all parliamentary parties: Members of Parliament, political advisers and party influencers. In April, the Spring Coffee for Visual Arts event, organised in cooperation with Kuvasto, brought once again together artists, organisations, and representatives of the Education and Culture Committee and the Education and Science Subcommittee in Parliament to discuss current issues in the visual arts.
In these meetings, we have raised, among other things, the expansion of the exhibition payment model, copyright compensation, gaps in social security and issues related to taxation. Our messages have reached more than 60 decision-makers and public officials. As a recent measure, Member of Parliament Inka Hopsu (The Greens) submitted a written question (in finnish) concerning the State’s commitment to the percentage principle for art in its own construction projects. The Visual Arts Mentors (Kuvataidekummit) has also met with Members of Parliament, taking time to focus on the experiencing of art. The programme currently includes 10 artists and more than 20 Members of Parliament from several parties.
We submitted a statement to the Ministry of Social Affairs and Health on combined insurance and were involved in developing a joint position on social security for the creative industries (in finnish). The Artists’ Association of Finland’s 2025 membership survey (in finnish) paints a clear picture of the income situation of visual artists: visual artists’ most significant sources of income come from outside artistic work. Without grants and artists’ pensions, the median income from artistic work among the artists who responded to the survey was only €2,000 per year. The making of art is overshadowed by, among other things, insecurity and challenges related to social security.
The Association’s Executive Director Annukka Vähäsöyrinki and Chair Teemu Mäki have actively participated during the spring in stakeholder events dealing with the implementation of the Cultural Policy Report, the internationalisation of Finnish visual art, and the conditions for the visual arts sector to operate within funding structures for the creative sectors.
The Cultural Policy Report sets out the broad direction of Finland’s cultural policy through to the 2040s. An important achievement is the report’s inclusion of a commitment to developing the system of compensation and remuneration for artists in the visual sectors. Cultural and artistic practitioners have been placed at the centre of the report. What remains open, however, is the funding of the report’s otherwise excellent measures.
The Young Artists 2026 exhibition has also provided an opportunity to reflect on key issues in the visual arts. Minister of Science and Culture Mari-Leena Talvitie opened the exhibition at Helsinki Kunsthalle (Helsingin Taidehalli), and in June we also welcomed members of the Greens Parliamentary Group to visit the exhibition.
It has been encouraging to note how interest and willingness to strengthen the position of the visual arts can be found across the political spectrum. A shared understanding exists. The next step is to ensure that this willingness is reflected in concrete decisions.
Our advocacy work will continue after the summer holidays towards the parliamentary elections in spring 2027. At the heart of this work is the objective also set out in the Association’s strategy: a happy visual artist.
Melissa Ahlberg
Communications and Advocacy Specialist
Artists’ Association of Finland
Ahlberg has been on parental leave since 5 June 2026. During her leave, Communications and Advocacy Specialist Saara Lehtonen serves as her substitute.