Photo: Elias Lahtinen & Saara Tuominen
Cultural Void
Fear
I sit on the sofa and my head aches. A press conference is on telly. I hear it but I’m not listening. But this will be over by summer, right? It’s late morning, but I’m overwhelmingly tired. When I was 16, I worked as a strawberry picker. Maybe I could do that this summer too? On the news, you always hear it that strawberry pickers make good money.
‘…I’m overwhelmingly tired.’
First, all the festivals were cancelled
The ban on big events was just a prelude to the hard times the people working in the cultural and creative sectors were about to face. In addition to artists, events create jobs for a number of other professionals: light and sound technicians, roadies, event planners and so on.
Will Covid-19 destroy not only our livelihood but also our passion?
A huge number of cultural or event sector operators are freelancers or self-employed people. The state of emergency highlighted the poor position of freelancers and self-employed people in the labour market and the poor forms of support available to them. As there were no work opportunities in their own field, or they were unable to practice their profession, some operators sought livelihoods in other sectors. Throughout the state of emergency, sector organisations and unions made vocal demands for support for the sector. It is feared that the distress will have long-term effects: what if the distress proves exhausting and takes away the artists’ passion for their work? Will Finland’s cultural field be left impoverished as a result of the Covid-19 crisis?
Thank you.
You were not alone with your feelings.
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