About us

Our task is to represent Finland by providing information on Finnish cultural and scientific achievements as well as economic actors in Hungary and its neighboring countries. Our institute places particular emphasis on current trends in arts and science.

Finnish Institute FinnAgora is operating in Budapest. The institution is located in the building of the Embassy of Finland and maintains a close cooperation with the Embassy, however it works as an independent organisation in Hungary. FinnAgora’s main mission is to represent and advocate Finland, its culture, its scientific results, as well as the country’s economic actors in Hungary and in the neighbouring countries. Our institution puts a special emphasis on the current trends in arts and in science. The prevailing director of FinnAgora is Heljä Franssila.

FinnAgora is one of the 16 cultural and scientific institutions of Finland. Founded in 2004, the main objective of the institution is to raise the presence of Finnish artists, scientists and as economic and social actors in Central Europe. So FinnAgora is basically an intermediary whose activities are based on the excellent knowledge of the actors of Finnish culture, science and economy and on the tight cooperation with Hungarian and international organisations. There are several Finnish and Hungarian cultural, scientific, educational and economic institutions and numerous companies and NGO among FinnAgora’s collaborating partners.

The institution is maintained by a foundation with a board of directors consisting of representatives from several cities, higher education institutions, ministries as well as cultural, economic or civil organisations. FinnAgora is supported by the Ministry of Education and Culture of Finland. The president of our foundation is Jyrki Myllyvirta. The representative of the foundation in Finland is Mikko Lohikoski.

FinnAgora Toimintakertomus 2022

MAIN AREAS OF OUR ACTIVITY

We represent actors of Finnish culture, science, and economy. We produce events in collaboration with Finnish artists, information centers for various arts and cultural operators (Finnish institutions, cultural organisations, galleries, museums, universities, NGOs and business partners). We support rising talents with competitions and grants via the TelepArt program. We also support Hungarian festivals, exhibitions, seminars as well as cultural and civil society organizations by providing expert help and travel subsidies to create bridges and connections with Finnish actors in the fields of culture, education, business and science with Hungarian counterparts.

Collaboration

FinnAgora cooperates with many Hungarian museums, cultural operators, universities and institutions. We are constantly looking for new and innovative projects that will enable us to represent Finnish research and culture.

VALÓSÁG RESIDENCE

Finnish artist residence located in central Budapest. It was established in 2011, and has hosted hundreds of artists so far. It's possible to bring the whole family to the residency as well.

Together alone

In May 2021 the Finnish Cultural and Academic Institutes announced ‘Together Alone 2.0’, a new open call for art projects in order to help the art scene battle challenges brought by the Covid-19 pandemic. The open call was aimed at artists and creative workers whose activities and livelihood have been adversely affected by the pandemic. Out of over 140 applications eight projects have been selected that investigate new ways of working and thinking during this difficult time.

Telepart

The TelepART application is currently closed. When the pandemic eased, there was a surprisingly high amount of TelepART applications and we supported many excellent projects. However this has led to us having to close the application. We will inform about the continuation of TelepART at the end of the year.

The TelepART Mobility Support Platform supports emerging and semi-established artists in showcasing their work internationally. At the core of this project is a new style of rapid-access funding. This funding is designed to support travel costs for performances between Finland and Hungary, Slovakia, Slovenia, Czech Republic, Croatia and Romania.