Lapland is the northernmost region in Finland. The area of it about the same with Serbia and Montenegro but there are only 200.000 inhabitants. The biggest part of Lapland is situated above the Arctic circle. It means that there are no nights in summer but in winter time days are quite dark during November – January. Snow comes in October and disappears in April – May. The last skiing competition takes place in northern Lapland at Midsummer!
The location between Sweden, Norway and Russia makes Lapland very interna-tional. Interaction and cooperation with neighbours has traditionally been active and people are crossing borders easily in business and culture affairs.
Services, industry, reindeer husbandry, trade and tourism are the main sources of livelihood as well as high education; the northernmost university in the EU is situ-ated in Rovaniemi, the administrative capitol of Lapland. It is possible to say that traditional way of life and high technology are going side by side. Distances are huge but also in small villages people can surf by broadband in internet.
Tourism is a fast growing industry, especially in winter. During last Christmas 2004 about 600 charter flights from all over the world arrived to Lapland. Visitors want to meet Santa Claus (who is living in Rovaniemi), to feel Lapland nature, drive with reindeers, to look at northern lights and have an experience of peace and silence. Today more and more tourists come to Lapland in summer to get different kind of nature activities and wonder how the sun is shining 24 hours per day.
A speciality of Lapland is Saami culture. Saami have been defined the only in-digenous people in the EU area. They are living as minorities in northern Sweden, Norway, Finland and Russia. Saami culture has retained cultural traditions and the new generation is creating it further on.
Arts and culture in Lapland is lively. Several artists have active international con-tacts and they present their products in other Europe and also outside it. During last twenty years the internationalising process has been one of the main features in Lapland arts and culture. It may sound peculiar but it has had a very positive and encouraging influence in culture and arts in Lapland. It seems to be so that you need several points of view, even distances, to understand the values of life and culture of your own.
Lapland is the first region in Finland, which is opening cultural relations with Bal-kan regions. By this already the first contacts have proved that we all will have very interesting challenges to collaborate in arts and culture. For us in Lapland the deep cultural roots and high level arts in Balkan region is a new experience. The distance between us is long but just a physical one - for arts and souls it never has meant anything. At the moment it is possible to hear like a sigh of wings of history. No doubt, it has a nice sound.
Kari Laine
Secretary General
Arts Council of Lapland, Finland
Published: 2010-11-17
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