Location: Cultural Centre Valve - Dance Studio 2
Address: Hallituskatu 7, 90100 Oulu, Finland | Venue Information | Event Map

Captions are available for this session

Please note: Before the workshop begins, there will be a short introduction to both this session and the workshop taking place at the same time in another room, Cultural Work in the Age of Machines: Value, Financial Resilience and Digital Practice. The introduction is intended to give a clearer sense of what to expect and demystify some of the terms used before you commit to either session. 

This session is for performing arts professionals who want to look at shifts in cultural funding, without needing to be fluent in financial language. 

Public funding and grants are often considered the backbone of cultural work, but a new generation of financial tools is beginning to appear alongside them, from recoverable grants and revenue-based finance to equity-style instruments. Most cultural practitioners have had little reason or opportunity to engage with these models, which is precisely why they are worth exploring together.

Rather than promoting any single model, we will examine what these mechanisms actually do, who they serve, and how their design shapes what kinds of artistic work become possible. We will look critically at how ‘impact’ and 'value’ get defined and negotiated in cultural financing by funders, intermediaries and practitioners themselves, and what is at stake in those definitions.

Through real cultural examples and interactive exercises, you will move between practitioner and funder perspectives to build a shared language around value, financing and cultural work. You will leave with a clearer map of the funding spectrum, sharper questions to bring to the table, and practical ways to engage with financial tools more confidently and critically in your own context. 

Facilitator:

Çağıl Özdemir, 3dots, Türkiye/Germany