Culture Bank improves employment opportunities for art and culture professionals by making them visible – and bookable

"Art and culture professionals have a lot to offer, but the market doesn’t function well. Culture Bank addresses this – it creates new job opportunities for creators and makes cultural procurement more visible."
– Henri Terho, Head of Unit, Arts Promotion Centre Finland

The innovation was originally developed by the City of Tampere as a regional collaboration in Pirkanmaa. The popular service is now expanding during the autumn to cover almost all of Finland. Swedish and English versions support the international visibility of art and culture professionals.

"We’ve been involved in Culture Bank from the very beginning. Productizing our services was initially challenging but quickly rewarding – we immediately found an established customer base through Culture Bank."
– Sanna Ristaniemi, actor, Ritvalalaiset collective

Professionals in art and culture can register for the service from the following regions: Pirkanmaa, Åland, South Karelia, South Ostrobothnia, South Savo, Kanta-Häme, Kymenlaakso, Ostrobothnia, North Karelia, North Ostrobothnia, Päijät-Häme, Satakunta and Southwest Finland. Registration for creators of art and culture will open in Uusimaa region during the fall. Creators can fill out their applications once the website is open, and applications will be processed as the Culture Bank service is rolled out in municipalities in Uusimaa. Information about the opening of the Culture Bank in North Savo will be announced separately.

Regional moderators review the creators’ information based on jointly agreed criteria. If the criteria are met, the profile is published in Culture Bank and the creator can begin adding services. 

Culture Bank promotes employment, equality, and accessibility. It highlights professionals from various artistic fields equally and offers municipalities, companies, and communities an easy way to utilize the potential of the creative sector and access art and culture services.

The online platform is expected to include:

• approximately 6,000 creator profiles
• over 4,000 bookable services
• around 1,000 registered clients

The expanding Culture Bank is coordinated by the City of Tampere, with technical implementation by Red & Blue Oy. The visual identity was created in collaboration with Kaski Agency. Funding for the expansion of Culture Bank has been provided by the Ministry of Education and Culture through the EU Recovery and Resilience Facility (RRF), as part of the Next Generation EU programme.