Alexis Kouros resigns from Arts Council of Finland to protest nominations policy

Alexis Kouros

print this

Iranian-born Finnish director and journalist Alexis Kouros has resigned from the Arts Council of Finland.
      Kouros wants to protest against the fact that he would have been the only member representing an ethnic minority in the newly-appointed multiculturalism division of the Arts Council.
      The multiculturalism division was set up a couple of years ago to allocate an appropriation of EUR 100,000 to art projects promoting multiculturalism. Early this year, the duties of the division were enlarged to cover the promotion of multiculturalism in general.
     
Kouros regards it as ”insulting” and ”patronising” when ethnic minorities are not given an opportunity to speak in their own voices even in the multiculturalism division of the Arts Council of Finland.
      ”The way of thinking that there are no sufficiently competent people among ethnic minorities who could be able to make decisions on their own matters is pathetically old-fashioned, almost racist. It reminds me of South Africa under apartheid”, Kouros writes in his letter of resignation.
      ”If a 'division' of homosexuals were occupied by heterosexuals who 'are acquainted with' gay questions, or if men who were familiar with feminism were to make decisions on women’s issues, or if Finnish-language citizens represented Finnish Swedes, it would kick up a terrible hullabaloo”, Kouros writes further.
      ”It is high time for Finnish society to give the immigrants a voice of their own, to trust that they are able to take care at least of this minor issue by themselves”, Kouros says to Helsingin Sanomat.
      Kouros has nothing against any of the persons appointed to the division. The question is largely symbolic.
     
According to Leif Jakobsson, the Chairman of the Arts Council of Finland, the make-up of the division is attributable to the fact that the statutory subcommittees of the Arts Council proposed that these individuals should be nominated to the division.
      ”In addition, the divisions can also appoint some expert members”, Jakobsson notes.
      Nobody has been selected yet to fill Kouros’s place.
     
Jakobsson says that multiculturalism should be a visible part of all subcommittees’ work so that a special multiculturalism division would not even be needed.
      ”Multiculturalism already plays such a pivotal role in the development of Finnish society that the related decision-making procedures cannot be put in a ghetto of their own”, Jakobsson argues.
      Jakobsson actually hopes that the Arts Council of Finland would be reorganised so that after a year such a multiculturalism division would no longer be needed.
      The Arts Council of Finland is an expert body operating under the authority of the Ministry of Education. It is composed of the chairpersons of the nine National Art Councils and six other members appointed by the Government. The Central Arts Council and the National Art Councils together constitute the Arts Council of Finland.
     
The Arts Council of Finland awards state prizes in the arts, appoints artist professors, and makes official proposals for honorary titles of academician, the granting of artist pensions, and in support of various cultural events.
      Authorised by the Central Arts Council, the subcommittees decide on the grants and subsidies awarded to artists from the state budget appropriation.
      The annual total of such grants and subsidies is approximately EUR 25 million.
      In addition to the statutory subcommittees, the Central Arts Council has set up divisions for example to allocate grants for multiculturalism and children’s culture.


Previously in HS International Edition:
  Finnish arts figure Leif Jakobsson is a director with two sceptres (19.1.2010)

Links:
  Arts Council of Finland

Helsingin Sanomat