Programme
Our Programme
The Finnish Cultural Institute for the Benelux encourages and supports artistic and critical collaboration and exchange between the Benelux and Finland. Our programme is infused with contemporary, sustainable, and cross-disciplinary cultural initiatives.
We work with artistic projects as well societal and topical themes, aiming for equality, inclusivity, and anti-racist efforts within our programming. Our focus ranges from visual arts and contemporary design to creative performances – from expertise exchange to discussion forums on current issues. We produce our own content as well as collaborate with different partners, and we are actively involved in networks such as MoveMen, and the European Union National Institutes for Culture (EUNIC) clusters in Belgium and the Netherlands.
For more information please contact our Head of Programme, Malin Bergström, malin.bergstrom@finncult.be
Programme 2023
Rikkert van Huisstede’s Boys Won’t Be Boys to make it’s international debut in Finland in 2024
Boys Won’t Be Boys, the dazzling Dutch theatrical and social movement where stories about masculinity take centre stage comes to Svenska Teatern, and Oulun teatteri in 2024.
L. Puska’s performance-led project URGENT – Residency for Artworks finds temporary home in Kunsthal Gent
Discover L. Puska’s “URGENT – Residency for Artworks” with three guest sculptures by Eva Spierenburg, Niina Tervo, and Sijben Rosa. Friday Evening at Kunsthal Gent, 1.12.2023
Ima Iduozee’s film After We’re Gone Coming to Brussels
Ima Iduozee will be showcasing his new film After We’re Gone at Africa is/in the Future Film Festival in Brussels this November.
Cherish Menzo returns to Moving in November with DARKMATTER
Cherish Menzo returns to the annual Helsinki contemporary dance festival Moving in November with DARKMATTER.
Reflecting Light in Helsinki
Reflecting Light – an artistic and research project centered on lighting is currently on a residency at Mad House and UniArts Helsinki.
The Finnish Cultural and Academic Institutes Launches pARTir Project With Support From The Finnish Ministry of Education and Culture
pARTir is a collaborative project designed to promote cross-cultural exchange and facilitate the international mobility of artists.
Registration is Open for Fair P(l)ay #3: Know Your Worth!
As part of the Dutch Design Week 2023 in Eindhoven, EUNIC Netherlands presents the third event of its Fair P(l)ay cycles: Know Your Worth.
10 Months in the Life – An EDUFI Intern’s Story
Our current EDUFI Intern Anni Koskela’s retrospective of her time with the Finnish Cultural Institute for the Benelux.
Satu and Maria Tani take part in Art Brut Biënnale in Hengelo, the Netherlands
The video version of “Breathing reef” premiers at international outsider art biennale, Art Brut Biënnale, in Hengelo, the Netherlands, from the 7th to the 15th of October 2023.
The Soft Collective launches “Unhad Conversations” with Zulu Green at the Together Again Festival
Safer Spaces for Unhad Conversations Amsterdam edition meets audiences at Helsinki Central Library Oodi and online at the Together Again Festival.
Save the date! Screening of Eatnameamet – Our Silent Struggle by Suvi West, September 28
The documentary examines Finnish politics regarding the Sámi peoples and their land rights, as well as themes of representation, visibility, and inclusion.
Registration is Now Open for our Finnish Courses!
You can now register for the Autumn Semester of our Finnish Courses! Registration is open until the 30th of August, and classes start in September.
Cosmic Latte by Sonya Lindfors Featured at Julidans Festival
Sonya Lindfors’ COSMIC LATTE will be performed at the Julidans festival in Amsterdam on July 14th and 15th.
Pehmee aka The Soft Collective bring Safer Spaces For Unhad Conversations to Amsterdam
As a continuation of their Together Alone 2.0 workshops in London, Pehmee bring Safer Spaces For Unhad Conversations to The Netherlands. Texts and recordings created will be shared with the public at the Together Again festival in Helsinki, 8 September.
The Texture of Connection by Yohannes Henriksson premieres at URB Festival in Kiasma Theatre, Helsinki
The latest commission of the Finnish Cultural Institute for the Benelux – The Texture of Connection, premieres on the 15th of June at the URB festival at Kiasma Theatre, Helsinki, Finland.
#StopHatredNow 2023 – The programme is out!
We are excited to be partnering with #StopHatredNow, the intercultural and antiracist platform takes place during 15-19 May 2023. The theme for this year is Rooting Change.
The Texture of Connection premieres this June in Helsinki
The Texture of Connection by Yohannes Henriksson, commissioned and produced by The Finnish Cultural Institute for the Benelux, premieres this summer in Helsinki, Finland.
Doom & Bloom premieres this May at Theatre Takomo in Helsinki
Dance artists Hanna Ahti, Anna Maria Häkkinen and Maija Mustonen, share the stage with actor Niina Hosiasluoma, the light design of Jenni Pystynen and the music of An Tul. Premiering 23 May 2023 at Teatteri Takomo in Helsinki.
Enfleshed: Ecologies of Entities and Beings edited by Kristiina Koskentola and Marjolein van der Loo to be published by Onomatopee
Enfleshed: Ecologies of Entities and Beings, to be published by Onomatopee, takes a deep dive into the diverse ecologies and realms of Eurasia.
Energy Bodies Curated by Rosa de Graaf & Niina Tervo Now On Display at SIC, Helsinki 1.4. – 7.5.2023
SIC presents Energy Bodies, an exhibition exploring the energetic relationships between the body and emotions.
Belgian-Moroccan singer Laïla Amezian at the Women-Music-Futures Symposium at the University of Helsinki
“Chaabi Habibi: Popular Female Moroccan Musicians in Belgium Searching for their History and Building their Future” with Laïla Amezian and Hélène Sechehaye, Helsinki, 10.3.2023
Discover the potential of air with Aaro Murphy’s installation at Kunsthalle Turku
Aaro Murphy’s multimedia installation explores the potential of air as a means of communication and data transfer at Kunsthalle Turku, from 5 May 2023.
Discussing gender equality in the performing arts on International Women’s Day
Join performing arts professionals from the Nordics, as they give their perspective on gender equality and discrimination within the industry, 8 March, in Brussels.
Teo Ala-Ruona: ENTER EXUDE premieres 24 May 2023 in Helsinki
“ENTER EXUDE” a performance by Teo Ala-Ruona premieres at Kiasma Theatre in Helsinki, 24 May 2023. The performance is co-produced by the Finnish Cultural Institute for the Benelux.
Open Call: SALWA’s Internet Café Residency Program
SALWA’s Internet Café, a 3-month residency to foster, acknowledge and support the migrant experience on the internet’s infrastructure. Deadline: 5 March 2023
The Finnish Cultural and Academic Institutes present Together Again
Together Again presents six community based works in-situ and online in 2023, culminating in a one-day festival in Helsinki, 8 September 2023!
Programme 2022
Internationally acclaimed The Book Club concept by Kriticos Mwansa arrives in Helsinki
Mwansa will hold a book club on masculinity in collaboration with the Jäbät ja Tunteet community and the Finnish Cultural Institute for the Benelux on the 9th of November.
Celebrate 10 Years of Subba with Emma DJ
Finnish native, Emma DJ, will be joining the 10 year anniversary celebrations of Subbacultcha! Join the party, 7 October from 23:00 CET onwards at C12 in Brussels.
Moving in November presents: JEZEBEL by Cherish Menzo
Cherish Menzo’s Jezebel refuses to be defined by others and looks for ways to reclaim her own image. The performance is part of Moving in November festival.
SALWA GATHERING #3: Homemade Seeds
The third and final SALWA Gathering of 2022, explores the notion of a home away from home. Seeking to create stories, connections and new kinships, Homemade Seeds takes place at Framer Framed, Amsterdam, 29 & 30 October.
TelepART: September 2022
In September, TelepART support allocated by The Finnish Cultural Institute for the Benelux has been given to traverso player Vera Plosila and theatre and puppetry professional Neville Tranter / Vaurioteatteri.
New European Bauhaus in the Nordics
The Ministry of Education and Culture, Finland and The Finnish Cultural Institute for the Benelux invites you to explore what the New European Bauhaus could mean in the Nordics at the Festival of the New European Bauhaus, on the 10th of June!
Healing & Dealing Pilot in Brussels and Helsinki
Healing & Dealing is a two-part project taking place this spring in Brussels and Helsinki. Dealing will be part of the Stop Hatred Now festival in Helsinki, focusing on white people and encouraging them to take responsibility for their part within structural white supremacy.
Oxi Koskelainen, Daniel Palillo & Emmi Venna: Kitchen Sink
Kitchen Sink consists of fantastic bric-a-brac and scraps of theatre history piled up in a giant sink. On top of all this a mystery play has been assembled, about the everyday; about dreams, poetry, and the real. 19-24.4.2022 at Sinne, Helsinki.
Elastic Alliances exhibition opens in Hanasaari
The Elastic Alliances exhibition will take place 8 April – 22 May 2022 at Gallery Hanaholmen. In conjunction with the exhibition, a seminar focusing on new forms of artistic collaboration will be arranged at Hanasaari Auditorium. Join us for the half-day seminar on Thursday the 28th of April at 1-6pm.
Fair P(l)ay – Fair practices in the cultural sector
FAIR P(L)AY is a cycle initiated by the EUNIC-NL cluster focusing on fair practices in the cultural sector, aiming to discuss and implement new and existing ways of creating fair environments in terms of funding, remuneration, copyright and mobility in Europe.
SALWA Gatherings
All Good Things Must Begin: Roots and Routes In response to the pandemic, the heightened precarity of artists, and a series of catalytic scandals that recently shook the art world in the Netherlands the past year, we would like to direct our attention in 2022 to...
Ritual City by Benjamin Orlow at the Horst Exhibition for 2022
We are delighted to announce the Horst Exhibition for 2022: The Act of Breathing will infuse the unique terrain of Asiat, Vilvoorde. The institute takes part in the exhibition by supporting the production of the commissioned work Ritual City by Benjamin Orlow, a Finnish-Swedish visual artist based in London, UK.
ART & LAND – EU-SÁMI Week in Brussels
On the occasion of Sámi National Day, we bring you the news that the first-ever EU-Sámi Week will be held in Brussels, in June. The aim of the ESW2022 is to increase awareness of Sámi culture, create networks and heighten the knowledge of Sámi issues among the policymakers in various sectors that affect Sámi interests.
Compartment no. 6 on screens in Brussels, 20th January
The Finnish movie Compartment No. 6 directed by Juho Kuosmanen is screened by The Polarise Nordic Film Nights on 20th of January, 19h00 and 19h10, at Cinema Galeries.
Kristina Sedlerova-Villanen joins the new artist residency programme in Brussels
Finnish visual artist Kristina Sedlerova-Villanen joined the new artist residency initiative KULT XL Ateliers in Brussels. Between January and June, she will be involved in artistic research on water manipulation systems. KULT XL Ateliers is an artist studio network...