”Suomessa valtio ei vaienna eriäviä mielipiteitä, vaan taideyhteisö”, sanoo kuraattori Elham Rahmati
English translation of the article featured on Helsingin Sanomat:
Visual artist, curator, and co-founder and co.editor of NO NIIN magazine, Elham Rahmati, doesn’t shy away from speaking plainly. Her statement is clear: the Finnish art scene is not as free, progressive or critical as it likes to believe. On the contrary, she says, it fosters conformism and a fear of exclusion.
In 2021, Rahmati co-founded the English-language magazine NO NIIN together with Vidha Saumya. The publication, which focuses on art and culture, was born out of frustration with the lack of critical engagement in the Finnish art field.
Rahmati challenges the self-image of art institutions and artists as inherently progressive or ahead of their time. She observes that their critical voice is often limited to certain topics—most notably environmental concerns, and even then, only in a highly depoliticized manner, detached from broader global injustices or systemic critiques such as settler-colonialism. Until a few years ago, Gretha Thunberg was amongst the most popular public figures internationally, but once she connected the dots from climate justice to decolonization, suddenly she’s ostracized. People notice these things, and that’s why many choose to talk about these things only surfacially.
Meanwhile, many shy away from so-called controversial topics: NATO, Finland’s complicity in the genocide of Palestinians by making arm deals with Israel, the Finnish media’s bias regarding the same issue, pervasive militarisation. “How many Finnish art-workers have publically and consistently expressed an opinion on these issues? Or on the fact that, under the DCA defense agreement, Finland is handing over 15 military areas for U.S. use?”
According to Rahmati, it’s possible to work in the Finnish art field for years without having much sense of what’s happening in Finland. Problems are treated as local phenomena and not connected to a broader global context. Social issues are rarely addressed, unless they affect one’s own life directly.
One reason for this, Rahmati believes, is the exceptional sameness of Finnish art institutions. It’s not just the lack of ethnic or gender diversity: people also share similar mindsets and attitudes
Institution staff often have similar social and educational backgrounds. Diversity, even in its most basic understanding of it, is rarely seen, not just in leadership roles and institutional boards, but on every level. Even getting an internship position is a challenge.
Rahmati doesn’t believe the issue can be solved simply by hiring people of global majority in institutions, even in leadership positions. " “Representation politics places a token within a dominant institution to advance that institution’s agenda. No matter how well-meaning the individual may be, and no matter how committed they are to “changing the system from within,” they inevitably fail, because these systems leave no room for genuine negotiation or transformation. At some point, you’ll have to choose between your job (livelihood) and your integrity. What we need is igniting our political consciousness. Challenging entrenched power dynamics and acting in solidarity against any form of repression–not just through the lens of identity, but through a commitment to transforming the very systems that produce marginalization.
Decolonization is not about a symbolic staff hire or a curated exhibition for a marginalized group. It is about dismantling the moral bankruptcy embedded in our institutions—something that cannot be excused or overlooked simply because of a Black, Brown, or Muslim figure. If we still held onto the illusion that representation alone could save us, that illusion should have shattered the moment we witnessed one Black UN ambassador after another casting votes against a ceasefire in Gaza.
She calls for a genuinely pluralistic art field: being open to different ideas, perspectives and approaches and most importantly an everyday practice of solidarity.
According to Rahmati, the Finnish art world is so small that speaking out about difficult issues becomes risky. Many fear losing work opportunities or being excluded from their communities. “Even giving this interview gives me anxiety and that to me is the sign that something isn’t right here.”
Finland is often held up as a model country for freedom of expression, which Rahmati finds paradoxical. Authoritarianism manifests in different form. In some countries, you might refrain from speaking about certain issues from the fear of state persecution. But in societies that pride themselves on liberal values, repression operates in more insidious and socially internalized ways.
Here, freedom of expression means freedom to blend in. Even the critical voices have to wrap their ideas in so much respectabilty–devoid of any confrontation–that they end up losing the plot. Meanwhile, the fascists walk in the streets with Nazi flags while the police protects them. If you don’t respect these unwritten rules of how to be critical without remotely offending any people or structures, the message will be sent to you in different ways that you’ve stepped out of line. Suddenly the air around you changes and becomes more difficult to breath. Authoritarianism is a spectrum–even “free” societies can cultivate environments of silencing through cultural and institutional conformity.
In Finland, Rahmati believes institutions and authorities – such as the police and the state – are treated with near-unquestioning trust. In my ten years of living in Finland, I’ve seen the gradual dismantling of the welfare state and weakening organized labor, all in the name of fiscal sustainability.
Although community could be the answer to many problems, Rahmati argues that the grant system in the arts forces artists into competition with one another, which also prevents solidarity, even within minority groups. “This isn’t the fault of individuals; the system is built this way.”
Instead of hopelessly trying for institutional positions Rahmati decided to apply for her own grant and start her own publication together with Vidha Saumya. In 2021, NO NIIN received a 4-year grant from the Kone Foundation, and this year another grant from the Saastamoinen Foundation to publish four more online issues.
Rahmati and Saumya wanted to create NO NIIN as a critical space: one where difficult conversations could take place. She says the magazine encourages art world actors to engage in tough discussions and explore unconventional approaches. It provides a platform for diverse voices in the form of essays, reviews, interviews, research, art, poetry, and fiction. In addition to its online content, the publication is released annually as a printed anthology. “We focus on the imaginative nature of art, its global reach, and on the voices and practices overlooked in the art world.”
“Freedom of speech only exists if we dare to use it, and not only when it comes to our own issues, but to stand firmly against oppression, anywhere and for anyone".
Writer: Ndela Faye