Culture

Culture in the WFA area covers
-performing arts, from theatre to movie productions and from folk dance to ballet,
-literature ranging from poetry to novels,
-visual arts, naïvism and modern painting, sculpture, photography and multimedia, and
-music including jazz and folk music, popular and classical music, and opera.

Several artists in the area have received a Young Artist of the Year nomination, and their paintings have been featured in galleries abroad. International short film festivals attract filmmakers and film presentations from around the world as well as from the area itself. Writers have described the history and present of their localities for the nation’s collective memory. The Finns are enthusiastic readers, a fact indicated by the popularity of public libraries. Besides books, the libraries also offer musical recordings, videos, study halls and research space for the public. Relative to its population, Finland has produced a record-breaking number of musicians, including composers, singers and players. Musical education has traditionally been an integral part of basic education; further education is available at many music institutes, while the many choirs also offer an enjoyable hobby as well as a way of developing musical talent. Opportunities in the area of multimedia are just opening up. Top-level multimedia education has been established, theses have proved successful and there is now a high demand for graduates in the field. The second national TV channel operates from the WFA region, in addition to a number of local television networks.

The Finnish summer is full of events, particularly so in the WFA region. Almost every village has a summer theatre run by local volunteers. Tampere’s international theatre festival also features top international artists every summer. Visual art is to be seen in museums, old silage barns, villas and cafés. Musical events and festivals bring vast numbers of people together to listen to chamber music and opera performances, folk music, workers’ music and tango events. Jazz and accordion festivals enjoy constant popularity. Young people flock enthusiastically to a particular type of festivals all through the summer. Summer fires up the whole of Finland.