Explore the 2025 Annual Report of the Finnish Cultural Institute for the Benelux

jun 22, 2026 | 2025, News

2025 was a year of creating and growing sustainable connections and meaningful societal dialogue, through an ambitious programme of international collaboration.

We collaborated on 54 events reaching over 34,500 people:

  • 21 performances (theatre, dance, circus, music, etc.)
  • 12 networking or mentoring events
  • 8 discussions or workshops
  • 6 exhibitions
  • 6 internal collaborative events
  • 1 study trip

In 2025 we had:

  • 143 meetings held with cultural professionals
  • 139 cultural professionals supported
  • 43 partners in Finland and Benelux
  • 30,145 website visits
  • 1,882 newsletter subscribers
  • 25 media hits
  • 87 students enrolled in Finnish language courses across five levels

Highlights included pARTir – Creating a Cultural Roadmap Towards Responsible International Mobility, a project supporting artists’ international mobility, work, and cultural export and exchange. Through pARTir, the Institute collaborated on four major productions, three of which were realised in the Netherlands in 2025:

  • Jenni-Juulia Wallinheimo-Heimonen’s solo exhibition When I grow up, I will become a coat rack at 1646 – Experimental Art Space in The Hague
  • Teo Ala-Ruona and working group’s performance Parachorale at Vleeshal in Middelburg
  • WAUHAUS‘ performance Renaissance at the Spring Performing Arts Festival in Utrecht

We also collaborated with the Finnish Art & Media Culture Agency M-Cult and Amsterdam-based contemporary art space Metro54 on the project Everyday Priorities – Art, Technology, and Accommodations, a series of gatherings and new artistic commissions exploring equity, access, and new artistic practices with Flis Holland and Joy Mariama Smith.

We supported Ave bossa, bow ole, the first solo exhibition of Jenna Sutela in the Netherlands, presented by Stroom Den Haag ahead of Sutela’s participation in the Pavilion of Finland at the 61st International Art Exhibition – La Biennale di Venezia.

We coordinated a visual arts study trip to the Netherlands for Finnish and Finland-based visual art curators and museum professionals.

Together with the Finnish Cultural and Academic Institutes Association (SKTI), we organised the institute network’s spring days in Brussels, strengthening ties between the institute network, policymakers, and local art organisations.

Read our full Annual Report in Finnish.

A huge thank you to everyone that we collaborated with!

 

Cover image: Teo Ala-Ruona’s performance Parachorale at Vleeshal Center for Contemporary Art, 2025. Photo by Fabian Landewee.
pARTir image: Renaissance promotional image courtesy of WAUHAUS. Photo by Katri Naukkarinen.

 

Institute office closed for summer break: 18.7–16.8.2026

Our office will be closed from the 18th of July to the 16th of August. You can still email us, we’ll reply after we return. Happy summer!

Ella Prokkola selected for Zoöp Connections residency with Kunstfort Vijfhuizen

The residency takes place 15 September–13 October 2026 in Vijfhuizen as part of EUNIC Netherlands’ networked knowledge exchange programme.

Start learning Finnish in Brussels or online this September!

Start your Finnish language journey with the Finnish Cultural Institute for the Benelux. Classes are open to everyone, no matter where you are based. Registration closes on 28.8.2026.

Vilma Vanhanen selected for Zoöp Connections residency with Buitenplaats Brienenoord and Nieuwe Instituut

The residency takes place 1–30 September 2026 in Rotterdam as part of EUNIC Netherlands’ networked knowledge exchange programme.

EXPRMNTL 4 revisited: Belgian avant-garde legend to be screened at Cinéstesia

Cinéstesia, a new initiative exploring the intersection of film and visual arts at the Espoo Ciné International Film Festival, 21–30 August 2026 in Espoo & Helsinki.