Excluded from Cultural Policy: Public Power as an Underminer of Cultural Bridges in Finland (Ponte)
In the Ponte research project, we explore the evolving landscape of Finnish cultural policy in the 2020s. Our focus is particularly on the narrowing diversity of publicly funded culture and the mechanisms behind it. We seek to understand the criteria that determine why certain forms of culture and cultural actors are excluded from public funding amidst budget cuts. Additionally, we examine how the values and objectives of cultural policy are changing.
Our research targets cultural environments, as well as the experiences and contributions of participants and professionals in the cultural sector. We approach our research questions from the perspectives of cultural and arts policy, marginalized groups, and peripheralized cultural spaces. The project is interdisciplinary, integrating insights from public law, cultural policy studies, and cultural studies.
The research project is led by Professor Riku Neuvonen at Tampere University, and is funded by the Kone Foundation. The affiliated researchers include Postdoctoral Researcher Kaisa Murtoniemi (Tampere University), Postdoctoral Researcher Sanna Lehtinen (University of Helsinki), and Postdoctoral Researcher Iina Järvinen (University of Eastern Finland).