Chairman of the Artists' Association of Finland, Teemu Mäki, has been elected as the president of International Association of Art Europe.

The International Association of Art (IAA) Europe is a network of about 40 national member organisations within Europe, representing professional visual artists.

"Through IAA Europe, the Artists' Association of Finland cooperates with other similar artists' organizations in Europe. Organizations have a lot to learn from each other in terms of how to strengthen the role of art in society and improve artists' rights. Cooperation is also required so that states, municipalities and citizens understand better, for example, the great and positive effects of art on health and well-being — and how vital free and critical art is for democracy and society," says Mäki.

IAA Europe is one of the five cultural regions of the International Association of Art (IAA), the largest international non-governmental association of visual artists. The organization supports international cooperation and artistic exchange and aims to improve the economic and social position of artists on national and international level.

The general assembly of IAA Europen was organised this year in Helsinki.

Teemu Mäki has been the chairman of the Finnish Artists Association since 2018. Teemu Mäki (b. 1967 in Lapua) is an artist, writer, theater director and researcher. He has a PhD in fine arts from the Academy of Fine Arts in 2005. Mäki works as a freelance artist.