Parliament|Parliament’s Christmas gift money flowed past many actors in the cultural sector.
The summary is made by artificial intelligence and checked by a human.
The Finance Committee of the Parliament distributed 50 million euros in Christmas gift money to important destinations.
Almost three million euros were allocated to support art and culture.
Museums focusing on military history received significant amounts of Christmas gift money.
Actors in the cultural sector criticize the basis for distributing the money and hope for transparency in the process.
Cultural sector the actors wonder about the basis for the distribution of the parliament’s Christmas gifts and feel that they have been left on the sidelines in a situation where the government has announced that it will cut back on culture. We also hope for transparency in the process of distributing Christmas gifts.
On Wednesday, the Finance Committee of the Parliament distributed the so-called Christmas gift money of 50 million euros to the MPs’ important destinations. Christmas gift money is a small part of the budget, the distribution of which is decided together by the parliament in connection with the budget report.
Just under three million euros of Christmas gift money was allocated to support art and culture. The money was distributed in quite considerable parts by the decisions of the governing parties, for example to museums dealing with military history.
For example, the Parola Armored Museum (200,000 euros for the shelter of the armored train), the Kollaa and Simo Häyhä Museum (50,000 euros), the History Association of Rukajärvi direction (50,000 euros) and the Finnish Military Museum Foundation (50,000 euros for the operation of the Military Medical Museum in Lahti) receive Christmas gift money.
Money from the Parliament’s Christmas gift pot was also distributed to, among others, a Member of Parliament Good luck Rostila (ps) for the Federation of Finland led by my father and a member of parliament Päivi Räsänen (kd) spouse for the Suomen Evangelical Lutheran Missionary organization (Sekl), which is critical of women’s priesthood.
Simultaneously the government has announced that it will cut more than 17 million from culture next year. The surgeries will also continue in the coming years.
General secretary of Forum Artis, the national cooperation organization of artists’ organizations Hanna Kosonen wonders on what basis the money has been distributed to the objects on the list.
Secretary General of Forum Artis Hanna Kosonen.
“Why is the cultural political line of the list exactly like this? The situation in the cultural sector is really bad, and there are entities that are in danger of collapsing completely. I wonder if these parties who received money are now in the same danger,” says Kosonen.
Artist Forum and Mitta on pleni working group were organizing a protest against cultural cuts Scissors stop! campaign. The grounds for distributing Christmas gifts have also been discussed in the campaign’s closed Facebook group.
The question raised there about the obstruction of MPs also worries Hanna Koso. He emphasizes that the disability rules are strict when applying for state and foundation grants, for example.
“Since the basis for the distribution of Christmas gifts is unknown, this matter of obstruction must be raised and clarified. Sharing money based on kinship sounds very special and even confusing,” says Kosonen.
The member of the Mitta on pleni working group against cultural cuts is also wondering about this Laura Serkosalo.
“In that sense, I think all of this appears in a rather strange light and in a funny way. It would be good to open up the background of the decisions widely”, says Serkosalo.
Laura Serkosalo also works as the executive director of Teksti’s house.
Rostila commented on the monetary gift earlier In an e-mail to Helsingin Sanomat, saying, among other things, that “the union’s grant deserves its place among the countless more secondary organization grants”.
Serkosalo also wonders the finance minister Riikka Purran (ps) comment. Purra previously said that at the beginning of December, he proposed canceling the distribution of Christmas gifts, but according to him, there was no willingness to do so.
“Who did Purra ask, who were not willing? The comment is quite strange,” says Serkosalo.
He says that he thought about what 50 million euros would have been enough for.
“With that money, the cuts of 17.4 million euros to culture and 26 million to the hospital network could have been cancelled, and there would have been money left over to pay the debt.”
Serkosalo emphasizes that there are also “good targets” among the recipients of Christmas gifts.
However, he has wondered why MPs do not trust the expertise of experts who distribute government funding, such as ministries and agencies.
“There’s a bit of micromanagement here. If one wants to add three million to art and culture, why the Ministry of Education and Culture and [Taiteen edistämiskeskus] Taike experts are not allowed to decide on their allocation?” Serkosalo asks.
Kosonen despite everything, is satisfied that the issue has been widely reported, and the topic has come up for discussion. He hopes that in the next round the process would be more transparent than it is now.
Kosonen also hopes that the far-reaching effects of cultural cuts are understood in Finland.
“Destroying culture is really fast, but building a new one takes a long time.”