Kiasma’s museum director Leevi Haapala left the support foundation’s board, which caused an uproar.
The strike against Kiasmaa by more than 200 art workers and four organizations has ended. According to the press release of the art workers, the work stoppage ended when the National Gallery committed itself to changes that make receiving private support more ethical. Kiasma operates under the National Gallery.
The first signings took place at the beginning of December.
– Our basis is the support of organizations funded by Chaim ‘Poju’ Zabludowicz for the apartheid policy of the Israeli state towards Palestine and the Palestinians, the artists declared at the time.
New ethical guidelines for the fundraising of the National Gallery
The ethical guidelines for fundraising and private financing of the three museums under the National Gallery, Ateneum, Museum of Contemporary Art Kiasma and Sinebrychoff Art Museum, were approved yesterday at the board meeting of the National Gallery. This also applied to art workers.
– In the future, the museums of the National Gallery will not accept donations or cooperate with organizations that operate or have operated in the recent past, for example, in oil and gas production, the tobacco industry, the manufacture of weapons, and the production of environmentally hazardous chemicals. \\…\\ In addition, the National Gallery does not cooperate with organizations and other actors whose activities promote the oppression of minorities or human rights violations, authoritarian governance models, gender inequality and criminal activity, the art workers’ press release states.
Kiasma Tukisäätiö is an independent foundation that is separate and independent from Kiasma and the National Gallery.
In their press release, the National Gallery and Kiasma hope that the measures taken will strengthen mutual trust and increase the transparency of operations so that the cooperation between Kiasma and the artists participating in the work stoppage will be able to continue.