News
Sebastian (2024): Finnish Director Mikko Mäkelä’s Queer Drama Hits Belgian Cinemas in November
Finnish-British director Mikko Mäkelä’s latest film Sebastian (2024) hits cinemas across Belgium 27.11.2024. Read Joséphine’s Gram’s insightful review.
“ONE DROP gives Blackness space to breathe” – Joséphine Gram on Sonya Lindfors’ latest work in Brussels
Our Programme Assistant Joséphine Gram shares what it meant to her to experience Sonya Lindfors‘ ONE DROP at Beursschouwburg in Brussels.
Sonya Lindfors returns to Brussels with a powerful confrontation of race, rhythm, and resistance
On 18 and 19 October 2024, acclaimed Cameroonian-Finnish choreographer Sonya Lindfors returns to Beursschouwburg, Brussels with her groundbreaking performance, One Drop.
Boys Won’t Be Boys & the softer side of masculinity – Eero Nurmi ruminates on the Oulu shows
Discover what the socially-oriented Dutch theatre production Boys Won’t Be Boys stirred up in our EDUFI intern Eero Nurmi during his time supporting the performances at Oulun teatteri.
Join us in Brussels as our next EDUFI intern
Apply to become our next EDUFI intern. The 5-month internship starts in January 2025 at the Finnish Cultural Institute for the Benelux office in Brussels. Application deadline 10.10.2024 16:15. Good luck!
Choreographing change: Sonya Lindfors on art, power, and speculative decolonial dreaming
In May 2023, Institut finlandais interviewed Sonya Lindfors, to discuss her career and her new work ONE DROP (2023) which will be performanced at Beursschouwburg, Brussels this October.
“Boys Won’t Be Boys was a transformative experience” – in conversation with Daniel Woodward
Cast member Daniel Woodward reflects on his powerful performance in Helsinki and shares what he’s looking forward to in Oulu on September 20 and 21.
Contemporary circus duo Jam.Shenanigans takes their tour to Finland
Rotterdam-based circus artists Batist Van Baekel and Henri Kangas head to four Finnish cities with their performance “Shenanigans,” with support from the Finnish Cultural Institute for the Benelux.
Welcome Joséphine, our new SKF intern!
This week, we’re excited to welcome our new Programme Assistant, Joséphine Gram! Keep reading to learn more about Joséphine and what she’s looking forward to in the months ahead.
Apply now: Rijksakademie Residency 2025/26
The Rijksakademie van beeldende kunsten is a residency programme that offers artists space for research, experimentation and for the production of new work. The residency is open to visual artists from all countries and all disciplines. Deadline 1.10.2024.
Finland is not an island: a letter from the Finnish Cultural and Academic Institutes ahead of budget negotiations
Hanna Lämsä, Executive Director of the Finnish Cultural and Academic Institutes has sent a letter to parliamentary groups ahead of budget negotiations in Finland this week. Read the letter in Finnish.
Alvar Aalto Medal 2024 goes to Belgian architect Marie-José Van Hee
The fifteenth Alvar Aalto Medal has been awarded to Belgian architect Marie-José Van Hee. The medal is presented at a ceremony in the University of Jyväskylä’s main building on 22.8.2024, coinciding with the Alvar Aalto Symposium.
Apply Now: Finnish Cultural Foundation & MORPHO Residency Programme for Visual Artists
Follow in the footsteps of Finnish visual artist Meri Toivanen and apply for the Finnish Cultural Foundation and MORPHO residency programme in Antwerp, Belgium. Deadline: 30.8.2024.
Finland: Severe cuts proposed to arts and culture funding
The Finnish Ministry of Finance has proposed a €65 million cut to state subsidies distributed by the Ministry of Education and Culture, expected to severely impact employment, access to the arts, and cultural exports.
TelepART: August 2024
The August 2024 TelepART support by the Finnish Cultural Institute for the Benelux goes to the Muddiverse working group’s site-specific dance performance “Charge” in the Kalasatama area in Helsinki, Finland.
The Finnish Cultural Institute for the Benelux office closed for a summer break
The Institute will be on holiday from Thursday, the 18th of July until Friday, the 9th of August. We wish everyone a wonderful summer!
Help us improve our communications – take part in our survey!
To improve our outreach and better connect with our stakeholders, we are conducting a survey to evaluate our current communication channels. Thank you for sharing your thoughts with us!
TelepART: July 2024
Luxembourg-based group Francis of Delirium performs at Ö Fest on an island in the Finnish archipelago, with support from the TelepART Mobility Support Platform allocated by the Finnish Cultural Institute for the Benelux.
The Finnish Cultural Institute for the Benelux and M-Cult secure funding for accessible media art initiative
The Finnish Cultural Institute for the Benelux and the media art association M-Cult have been awarded a €25,000 grant from Finland’s Ministry of Culture and Education for an accessible media art initiative.
Sonya Lindfors returns to Beursschouwburg with ONE DROP
Confronting the echoes of the ‘one drop’ rhythm and the ‘one drop rule’ with power, anti-racist love and resistance, Sonya Lindfors’ dance performance ‘One Drop’ comes to Beursschouwburg, 18 & 19 October 2024.
Registration now open for the autumn term of our Finnish language courses!
Start your Finnish language journey with the Finnish Cultural Institute for the Benelux this September. Suitable for all levels, classes are open to everyone, no matter where you are based. Register today!
Meet the executive board of the Finnish Cultural Institute for the Benelux Trust
Bringing expertise from the arts and cultural fields in Finland and in the Benelux, the members of the board are responsible for funding and supervising the activities of the Institute. Get to know the faces behind the names.
TelepART: June 2024
The June 2024 TelepART support by the Finnish Cultural Institute for the Benelux goes to the performance “Unknown for talking bodies” by choreographer Eeva Juutinen and performers Astrid Stenberg and Taru Aho at Pianofabriek in Brussels, Belgium.
Boys Won’t Be Boys’ Finland debut through the eyes of Gender Studies student Tega Oke
Find out what it has meant for Programme Assistant Tega Oke to support the Finnish premiere of Boys Won’t Be Boys, a Dutch theatre production centered on personal and honest stories about masculinity.
Join us for a Midsummer Cocktail Hour on Tuesday, 18 June
We have the utmost pleasure of inviting you to the Finnish Cultural Institute for the Benelux office for a cosy midsummer cocktail hour. 18.6.2024, 18:00–19:30.
Safer Spaces and nods to surrealism – introducing the Institute’s stickers by Sam Vanbelle
Take a peek at our brand-new stickers, embodying select parts of the programme and principles of the Finnish Cultural Institute for the Benelux, and get to know the Antwerp-based illustrator.
Book launch at De Appel “Falling In: Movement and Becoming in Curatorial Research”
Join the conversation at the launch of “Falling In: Movement and Becoming in Curatorial Research”, co-edited by Jussi Koitela with Dahlia El Broul and Ksenia Kaverina. 17 June at De Appel, Amsterdam.
Watch the teaser of Julian Owusu’s Boys Won’t Be Boys video performance at Svenska Teatern
In anticipation of the premiere of Boys Won’t Be Boys in Helsinki, we bring you a teaser of the moving video performance by artist Julian Owusu!
TelepART: May 2024
Milla Koistinen performs “Breathe” at SPRING Performing Arts Festival in Utrecht, the Netherlands, with support from the TelepART Mobility Support Platform allocated by the Finnish Cultural Institute for the Benelux.
Redefining the male body experience and shaking up the arts – an interview with Jani Toivola
For the first time, Jani Toivola shares the stage while exploring the concept of masculinity and the male body experience in Boys Won’t Be Boys’ Finland debut on 23 May.