The Act on the Promotion of Performing Arts was recently renewed in Finland and the organisations receiving government transfers starting in 2022 were assigned. Two organisations working within the field of contemporary circus, Circo Aereo and WHS, are among the twelve new organisations that will receive government transfers starting in 2022. The funding under the Act on the Promotion of Performing Arts has now been guaranteed for three years.
– When we started nearly twenty years ago, you couldn’t imagine that circus would be regarded as an art form and that it would one day be part of the system of government transfers. This is a milestone also for the work that we have done, said Kalle Nio of WHS in an interview by Finnish national broadcasting company Yle.
Altogether 100 organisations within the performing arts will receive government transfers starting in 2022 for three years or for the time being.
The Ministry of Education and Culture in Finland allocates central government transfers and discretionary government grants to support the creating and performing of contemporary circus. The Arts Promotion Centre Finland awards discretionary government grants for activities and events organised by independent professionals, such as registered circus companies, individual working groups, production companies and freelance artists. In 2021, altogether 15 circus companies and organisations received governmental funding via The Arts Promotion Centre Finland.