Art and energy

Lauri Virkkunen, General Manager of Vattenfall Finland since spring, freely admits to being a friend of contemporary art. He is also proud of the fact that Vattenfall sponsors Kiasma’s School on the Move, whose enthusiastic reception has been a pleasant surprise for its creators.

Lauri Virkkunen is very pleased with the co-operation with Kiasma. Kiasma’s School on the Move project, now halfway through, has successfully reached its target audience, and the reception has been enthusiastic. It has also provided Vattenfall with an opportunity to bear its share of social responsibility. Virkkunen says an energy company has a great responsibility to the community it operates in.

”We look after the energy infrastructure of society, ensuring that people have power, heat and light. As a company, we play an important role in our wide operating environment. Social responsibility means that we are also involved in the other activities of the community, in one way or another.”

Virkkunen says that there is great demand for artistic activity outside the Helsinki metropolitan area. The effects of migration and the great changes in Finnish society that have taken place in the last 20 years are obvious.

”My mother lives in the countryside, and with her I have seen how village shops and schools are closed down and services move to larger centres. This worries people, they feel that everything is petering out. Obviously, School on the Move cannot solve this problem, but it does offer activities to and inspire children and young people.”

Another important message is that Kiasma and contemporary art are not confined inside the building called Kiasma. ”School on the Move makes contemporary art more democratic. Contemporary art belongs to everyone, regardless of where they live.”

DIRECT FEEDBACK

Virkkunen gained a new perspective on School on the Move last spring, when the School’s art van arrived at his daughter’s school. Direct feedback to Vattenfall management was positive.

”It is difficult to touch a chord with young people of that age. They have a critical attitude towards everything coming from parents or teachers. In this case, feedback was overwhelmingly positive: it was one of the best, if not the best day of the year. My daughter is into art, so she was interested in the topic, but even boys who do not normally care for these things got involved after a few raised eyebrows.”

Doing things yourself in the biology workshop was particularly inspiring. ”Having more options contributes a lot to teaching art. On the other hand, schools may have very meagre resources, making it more difficult for teachers to keep creating something new. They need materials, interaction and influences from outside.”

Much of art education is left to families, how much interest they take and how frequently they visit museums and exhibitions. This is particularly evident away from the big cities.

ART PROVIDES A PLEASANT SURPRISE

There is no need to force contemporary art on Lauri Virkkunen. He says he visits museums of contemporary art voluntarily on his trips abroad. Kiasma’s School on the Move has strengthened his opinion that contemporary art is approachable, fun and people-friendly.

”I have not made art myself, but I frequently visit art museums. When travelling abroad with the family, we have visited museums of contemporary and modern art in particular because they are places the children also like to see.”

The attraction of contemporary art lies in that it is full of surprises and has a different way of looking at reality. Media used in contemporary art are also close to the everyday life of children and young people in particular. ”The works contain video, sound, images and collage. They include elements taken from the reality our children live in.”

Virkkunen’s favourite museums are in New York, especially PS1 and MoMA. Tate Modern in London has recently emerged as a new favourite. One of Virkkunen’s most memorable art experiences was a work by the Icelandic artist Olafur Eliasson in Tate Modern.

”It was an awesome experience to walk inside the work of art, lie on the floor, look up and find myself in the sky of mirrors, entering another world and a different reality after walking in the cold London streets for hours.”

CULTURE AND SPORTS

Virkkunen says art has a good chance of becoming a target for sponsoring to be reckoned with alongside sport. Sponsors and art institutions only need to lay down ground rules that benefit all parties. Vattenfall has experience in sponsoring both sport and art. In sport, it sponsors a cup for athletic clubs for young athletes aged between 11 and 17. Although there are differences, Virkkunen thinks the fundamentals are the same.

”Both projects have the same target group: children and young people. By sponsoring art education of the young on the one hand and youth sports on the other, we support young people’s opportunities to be active in different areas. In addition, both are about culture - one of the mind, the other of the body.”

There are of course differences. In sport, sponsorship is part of the package, an everyday thing. Virkkunen says corporate visibility on sports arenas is somehow easier. Sponsoring art, on the other hand, is a more recent phenomenon in Finland, and the message does not always reach stakeholders as expected.

”The concept is new to companies, partners and, most of all, the community as a whole. I am convinced, however, that culture will become more significant as we find new ways to co-operate.”

Piia Laita

Kiasma’ s School on the Move is a national three-year project implemented by the support of the energy company Vattenfall. In the autumn term the school bus will tour the southwestern part of Finland.