Culture Bank expands to 14 regions, opening cross-region sales for artists

The City of Tampere says the Culture Bank, launched in Pirkanmaa, has expanded through regional cooperation to cover areas from Uusimaa and Åland to North Ostrobothnia, and is now active in 14 Finnish regions. Use is free. Municipalities, wellbeing services counties, schools, associations, companies and private individuals can all use it to find cultural services.

Eerika Lehtinen, national coordinator of Culture Bank, says the platform "helps artists and cultural professionals make their expertise visible." She says it aims to lower the threshold for finding new customers and partners and to support service packaging and entrepreneurial skills. The service is managed by the City of Tampere Public Cultural Services.

This expansion builds on earlier local measures to support artists, such as the selection of 15 cultural operators for rent-free arts spaces in June and the city's €2.97 million funding package to support artists and venues in March.