Ethical guidelines for the arts and culture sector have been completed
The cooperative association for the nationwide artists' organizations, Forum Artis, has completed ethical guidelines for the art and culture sector and given them to Research and Culture Minister Petri Honkonen. The minister had tasked Forum Artis with drafting the guidelines.
The background to the preparation of the ethical guidelines is the discussion that has been held in recent years within the arts and culture sector about the need to promote ethical aspects of work. At the beginning of 2020, the ministry organized a discussion on ethics for representatives of the entire cultural field. The discussion also raised the question of whether there is a need to establish an ethical body for the sector.
The Ministry appointed an person to study the matter, but after the referral of the investigation, the Ministry decided that no ethical body should be established for the arts and culture sector, but that the work may proceed with preventive measures and through a mandate for the actors in the sector to draw up ethical guidelines.
The guidelines that Forum Artis has produced are a pilot version that will now be anchored within the sector and then supplemented based on the response received. Forum Artis also collects more information about problems in the sector and follows up on how the guidelines work and what effect they have in practice.
Forum Artis also believes that it is necessary to invest more in management and leadership training in the cultural sector. In order to evaluate whether the ethical guidelines are sufficient to increase consideration of ethical aspects within the arts and culture sector or whether other measures are needed, Forum Artis proposes a joint gathering of actors within the sector in early 2024.
The ethical guidelines can be found in English, Finnish, Swedish and Northern Sámi at www.eettinentaide.fi
More information
Hanna Kosonen, general secretary, Forum Artis, tel. 040 528 4876
