Johan Storgård gave us a lecture about Finnish export and it`s state now but also about history and future. And this is what we learned..
Background
Culture is one of worlds biggest and fastest growing industry field in the world but also in Finland. In Finland almost everything related to culture in supported by government which tells much about the state cultural field is in nowadays. We have many talented artists and all areas in culture are represented in Finland, but something is still missing.
Finland is definitely a culture consuming country! Finnish state budget is approximately 54 milliards and Finnish people consume culture for 10 milliards. So, it is indeed very important for us. The average person in Finland spends about 10% of his incomes on culture. Actually, people spend more money only on groceries.
In total people spent over 5 million euros to culture ( in year 2005) and that is more what they used even on their own health. Culture industry has also strong impact on employment and over 4% of labor force work within cultural fields.
All this sounds so good and promising. What is then what we are missing? Why do we need government support so much?
Cultural field in Finland now
At the moment there is no room for expansion on home market. The market is full and we are competing with each other. Like I wrote earlier, every field of culture is represented in Finland right now. The problems we need to solve are how to export culture abroad and how to get foreign audience for our cultural products in Finland. Well, how does that happen then?
Firstly, we need to stop looking to the west and instead we need to focus on east. East is the future, China and Russia are where the money is at the moment. We also need to stop thinking that our location is somehow difficult to achieve. After all, coming from the east, we are the first European country and thanks to Finnair Finland are very easy to reach at the moment. In order to be prepared to collaborate and cooperate with east, we need start learning languages: Russian and Chinese.
We also need: supporting structures for production development, innovative commercial approach and working methods marketing, remarkable promotion and co-operative bodies.
In order to support the efforts of culture industries in export, Finnish government invented Luovimo, an internationalization program for creative industries. Luovimos tasks was to create a national development program for the cultural export for the years 2007-2011.
The aim was that the cultural sector would get equal support than the other export industries. This support includes consulting, working opportunities and new business opportunities.
Participants in this project was such as Ministry of Education, Ministry of Trade, Foreign Ministry, tourist board, technology board and Finnpro.
With Luovimo we were able to create new work possibilities and the number of business has grown but not sure if the sales has gone up.
Future
Finnish culture field should get a “winner”. Someone, who would achieve success and be able to create new work places. A good example is the game industry where Rovio and Supercell have achieved something which was 10 years ago considered as impossible.
Text by Senja Hämäläinen & Sari Jagielski and pictures by Päivi Kettunen
Gallissas was our last but not least excursion during our study trip to Berlin. We were greeted by Eva Theresa Beck and Michel Honold who told us about Gallissas, a German Theatre Agency. The company develops new plays and musicals, they represent plays from international producers and international partners and resell German authors works internationally via their partners. They focus on musicals especially. Eva is the dramatic advisor and Michel works with the production parts for/at Gallissas. ACE-prododuction and Johan Storgård cooperate with Gallissas. They present some of the Swedish Theatres productions in Germany. The most successful play exported from Finland to Germany through Gallissas was PlayMe. The company was founded in 2005. The facility they work at is beautiful. The presentation started by looking at their facility, there were both offices and rooms for other events.
The office area at Gallissas
One of Gallissas’ major parts of what they do is to produce about 6-7 plays/musicals every year that they commission to authors. Gallissas is the connection between the theatre world and the author. At some point when you write the script you do not see your own mistakes anymore, which is the stage when it is good to have the producing company’s help. Gallissas organize readings where actors have two day of rehearsals. During this rehearsals you see what works in the play and which parts still need adjustments. Some scenes are rewritten after the rehearsals. The idea is also to sell the script, this meaning from a producing company’s view that you invite potential buyers. In a musical theatre one usually has a musical director who composes the melody and separately a musical director for the instrumental part. The readings are a lot about voice acting. Thus, it is important to find good singers for the few rehearsals. They usually have only two weeks time to learn the script before rehearsals. Normally in Germany actors have six weeks time to learn the script. Internationally it depends on where you are what the customs are for the actors to receive the script of a play. If you start by working with a play that already exist it is all about translating in at the beginning. You have to think about syllabuses, jokes, different generations, dialects and cultural differences. Every translation is more of an adaption of the play, but still to bearing in mind the original play. If something goes wrong in the play, we usually blame it on a bad translation.
Eva Theresa Beck and Michel Honold
When you finally have the play in your pocket it is time to start marketing it. Before the premiere you can easily have an impact on the ticket sales but after that there will be a reputation of the play. To have remarkable people with you in your theatre can help in the beginning. However the best way of selling your work is by knowing it well.
During our study trip in Berlin, our group visited Suomesta Galleria; a project gallery in Berlin for Finnish media and video artists, sculptors, photographers, graphic artists and painters. Suomesta Galleria was originally curated by Finnish media artist and film director, Jari Haanperä.
So on Wednesday 5.11 we got a chance to have a chat with Mirka Flander, the Co-Ordinator of Suomesta Galleria, and here’s what we got to discuss with her.
Could you tell us a little bit more about the upcoming exhibition? Are all the artists from Finland?
Most of them, yes. In the upcoming exhibition there will be two. When it comes to our exhibition someone is always a Finn.
So the upcoming exhibition is by Jyrki Markkanen and Emma Lappalainen. They are both graphics artists. Jyrki is extremely established outside Finland, but for some reason nobody seems to know him in Helsinki. He’s actually one of the very few Finnish artists who’s got his work in the collection of MoMa (the Museums of Modern Art) in New York.
How do you select the artists you feature in your exhibition?
There are certain qualities we are looking for. It doesn’t matter whether or not you are an established artist or a young, beginning artist. What we are looking for is the opposite of “princesses”. When I say princesses I mean people who don’t touch anything their selves when it comes to putting the gallery exhibition together. We want artists who are ready to work for it.
Most importantly we are looking for people who are able to promote them selves. Seems odd but this is how art is these days; you have to be socially outgoing, you have to be able to write about you’re work and yourself. You really can’t be too modest.
This is kind of a pity, since the people who are visually talented aren’t necessarily socially and verbally as talented.
So you are a galleria that shows mainly Finnish art, what kind of audience do you have?
Well, of course Finns who live in Berlin visit us, and for some reason we have people visiting the galleria who have been in Tampere or Lapland before. People who know something about Finland and because of that are interested in Finnish art when they happen to find it.
What is it in for the artists who work with you? Do they find new contacts or become more known? Do they get support from other sources?
So what we take is the rent, and for that we cover all the other expenses: internet, supervising, promoting and everything included.
When it comes to grants and supports it’s almost a political thing, if artist number one gets grants from somewhere, why shouldn’t artist number two? But something that we are very happy about is that many artists have usually got good money or grants afterwards, because they were exhibiting in our gallery.
While we were having an adventure in Berlin we took one afternoon to sit down with a very charming lady: the Finnish opera singer Riikka Hakola. Riikka is originally from Finland, but currently living in Berlin with her family.
Riikka Hakola is a soprano who has done a great international career. She started out as a young girl, graduated from Finnish music school Sibelius academy, and has worked in many projects ever since all around the world. She has performed for example in Helsinki Finnish National Opera, In New York at Metropolitan Opera, and also has she been performing in various exotic locations. In New York she was performing in War & Peace opera with Anna Netrebko, who is one of the leading stars in Opera industry. Riikka told us a lot of stories about living life in New York, which many of them made us laugh. Riikka has performed a wide range of different operas, which include many classics such as Violetta, Anna Bolena, Donna Anna and Tosca.
We asked Riikka`s opinion about the industry and how she sees that we future Culture Export Managers would fit into industry. This was a question that we asked from everybody we met in Berlin. And the answer was every time the same: there is plenty of work for us, the industry needs people with enthusiasms and passion, but it will not be an easy road. Like every cultural field, also opera has faced some difficulties in the past years. But obviously CEM students are up for a challenge.
We also asked from Riikka how she takes care of her health, after all voice is the biggest tool she has. Her answer was really down-to-earth and practical. She told us that she just simply tries to keep her in good shape, and tries to avoid overreaction like sleeping in oxycen tanks or avoiding speaking days before shows.
Riikka was really fascinating persona and time just flied by when talking to her, and unfortunately too soon we had to already rush into our next meeting… But hey, did I already mention where we met her for lunch? In the finest department store there is in Berlin (and also oldest: KaDeWe was opened in 1907). We had lunch in the top floor, we there was an incredible restaurant with breath taking views.
Great day, great people and good memories from Berlin!
The last visit of the first day in Berlin is with visual artist Niina Lehtonen-Braun. She graduated from Fine Arts Academy, Helsinki, in 2000. From the year 2000 she has lived in Germany, with her artist husband Ulu Braun and their two children. Niina does mainly collages, but her production includes also video art, installations and performance art.
Niina’s studio is in an apartment building in Wedding, which was mentioned as the new artist district. The gentrification in many districts of Berlin is increasing the property values and rents and makes the artists to search cheaper locations. Exhausted from keeping up with the schedule and all the excitement of the day, we are pleased to sit down and have a peaceful moment with Niina. We sit in a semi-circle, as if the campfire, to listen to Niina telling us about her art and living in Berlin. On the walls and tables we can see Niina’s paintings and collages, in which her own style is very well recognizable. She tells that collages suit her well as with them she can combine the visual and story telling.
Currently Niina is working with a collage project “These foolish things remind me of you” and for that project she is gathering memories of things that make people think of someone special. Niina’s collages are a combination of discovered, borrowed and own material, just as the human memory. For her previous project “What mother said” she gathered memories of people for five years. Out of this project Niina has made a book which opens up a woman’s world and identity. Each of us, we carry in our memory words, associated with our mother’s voice. It is inspiring to think about the faces of behind those words, and the context in which those words were originally used.
Niina works with paintings, collages, performances, and occasionally accompanies her husband’s projects. The collaborative work in art is probably specific working practice of a Berlin artist. In Niina’s work it seems to be a logical extension of the working methods to find her own style. The power and fascination of our visit is that Niina speaks openly and personally about her own life, the artist’s work, and living in Berlin. Niina’s speech is equally genuine than her work, and our visit is about of shared experience of humanity and recollection.
During Helsinki Region Welcome Weeks there was an event called Global & Local, arranged at the Savoy Theatre. The cities of Helsinki and Espoo invited young international and national residents on the 20th September to an evening of music, dance and socializing in Helsinki.
The Programme for Global & Local, the Total Cello Ensamble from Sibelius Academy and the choir Huutajat.
The evening began with cocktails and snacks. The event was hosted by Tino Singh who was entertaining and talented. In the audience you could see people from all over the world. It was an international experience that you do not get to experience every day.
One of the speakers was Peter Vesterbacka who spoke about Rovio. First the company was local and then they went global. It was exactly what the whole event was all about. It was fascinating and inspiring to hear how no one believed in Vesterbacka when he claimed that the Angry Birds game was going to be known all around the world, but look what they have achieved until today. Vesterbacka is also the co-founder of Slush, a two-day start-up conference coming up in November. The idea is that the best tech talent from Northern Europe and Russia and beyond gets the chance to meet up with leading investors and media from all around the world. The name ‘Slush’ comes from the weather in Finland in November, it is cold, dark and slushy. When creating this event Vesterbacka also said that it was going to be the world biggest, once again no one believed in him and today it is the world’s biggest start-up event. His message was: you can do anything.
Naomi Zino, Peter Vesterbacka and Anastasia Alén at Restaurant Presto.
Alexis Kouros the editor in chief for Helsinki Times presented hints about living in Finland. His first message was: the attitude is what makes the world around us look the way it is. It is what we carry in our minds, our feelings. In Finland there are rules to be remembered. E.g. do not say hello to a stranger, not even to your neighbours. Kouros also joked that most likely the non-Finns in the audience will marry a Finn in the future. He also spoke about Finland being the best place to study. He encouraged everyone to get involved in start-ups while being in Finland. To get in contact with start-ups is also a way to get connections internationally. Do not waste your time.
During the evening there were talented young dancers, singers, cello players and much more to enjoy. The evening continued in restaurant Presto with drinks, socializing and networking.
Berlin has been the scene of many significant historical turning points over time. It has been the capital of many different form of government, and during the Cold War it was divided in half. Now it’s back to the capital of a united Germany, and at the same time it is one of the most important cultural cities in Europe. Berlin is an excellent culture travel destination and a great choice of Culture Export Management Group on a study trip in early November.
The trip is in about three weeks, so now we can begin to tune in to the theme. We can experience the atmosphere of Berlin through the culture. Countless books and movies are located in Berlin during different time periods. The most significant works are located in Berlin depicting turning points in the history through Berliners’ eyes. This history is still visible in today´s Berlin, and it is a part of common European history. I’ve put together a few examples of the Berlin-themed works that you could be interested to explore before the trip.
Alfred Döblin’s great novel Berlin Alexanderplatz is one of the absolute classics of German literature. It describes the era in which the Weimar Republic is crumbling, unemployment and the recession deepens, and Nazism is rising. The story takes place in the Berlin underworld. It describes the protagonist Franz Biberkopf’s life and troubles after a prison. Narrative style of the book is modern, and includes a variety of changes in perspective and inner monologue. German film director Rainer Werner Fassbinder directed the legendary 14-part TV series based on the book, which might be even more known than novel. It was completed in 1980 and turned to be one of the most significant TV dramas because of the masterful storytelling and high-quality work.
The Berlin Stories is written by Christopher Isherwood. The book includes two short novels set in Berlin in 1931, just as Adolf Hitler was moving into power. Berlin is portrayed by Isherwood during this transition period of cafes and quaint avenues, grotesque nightlife and dreamers, and powerful mobs and millionaires. Broadway musical Cabaret, which had its premiere in 1966, is partly based on Isherwood’s book. Bob Fosse directed the film version of the musical which is also a classic, starring Liza Minnelli.
The Cold War inspired many writers to write spy stories placed in Berlin. The reality of spying in East Germany was by no means as glamorous as some of the books can be deduced. Ministerium für Staatssicherheit , the Stasi, was the GDR’s security and intelligence organization, and it was considered one of the world’s most powerful intelligence services. Stasi tasks included monitoring of their own citizens, which aimed to control the inappropriate political behavior and dangerous contacts. Today, the Stasi archives are open, and many people have gotten to know what their families or neighbors had told to Stasi reports. A Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck film called “The Lives of Others,” tells about the Stasi agent who is spying a writer and his wife, and the spy discovers to be interested in the couple’s lives more and more. The film is set in East Germany’s final stages in the year 1984. The life and work of tired and apathetic secret agent and the grim mood in the movie are predicting the end of East Germany, and the transition of new era.
The Berlin Wall was pulled down 9.11.1989, i.e. soon 25 years ago. It is historically very short period of time and these events are still strong in people’s minds. Many Berliners have experienced these events and have been on the spot. The Cold War memorials in Berlin are much visible. In addition to historical points I think it is also interesting to look for cultural spots. They are the spots where the books and films are placed and those works of art have reached and affected many people during different time periods.
Last week, me and my fellow CEM students got an amazing chance to see the brand new Mamma Mia musical in Svenska Teatern. Mamma Mia is the most successful musical ever made and has been highly popular in Broadway and all around the world for years. Last week the popular musical finally premiered here in Finland, and we got a chance to see it.
The musical was filled with amazingly talented actors and even a few well known TV personalities like Maria Sid. And the best part was that we were seated at the balcony, so I was feeling like a queen during the whole show.
Mamma Mia takes place in Greece, where a young woman, Sofie, is about to get married. She’s never met her father, but after reading her mother’s journal she finds out that she might have three father candidates. She decides to act behind her mother’s back and invite all three of them to her wedding. As the three men arrive, this takes us to a journey as some old memories from Sofie’s mother’s past come back to life.
If you don’t understand Swedish you’re not out of luck! If you’ve seen the Mamma Mia movie before, the story line is quite easy to follow since the movie was made entirely based on the musical.
And even if you haven’t seen the movie before, everyone can just sit back and enjoy the legendary ABBA songs come back to life on Svenska Teatern’s stage – and luckily, the show is filled with ABBA’s greatest hits! And of course, you can always go to the help desk and get a translating device that shows the subtitles as the musical goes on.
Thanks to my theater loving mother and sister I’ve been (half dragged) to quite a few Svenska Teatern shows before. However, Mamma Mia was hands down the best show I’ve seen by them so far! It had everything a viewer could ask for: amazing costumes, dancing, humor and most importantly, all the beloved ABBA songs such as Waterloo, Dancing Queen and Winner Takes It All!
I was also quite surprised to hear that the ABBA songs were translated to Swedish, but in my mind they worked out perfectly. And of course, since ABBA is a Swedish band it actually felt more than natural to hear their biggest hits finally in Swedish.
If you want to see the show you can buy tickets by visiting Svenska Teatern’s website. The ticket sales begin on November 15th.
Text by Hanna Lehto
Pictures by Hanna Lehto, Senja Hämäläinen and Naomi Zino
Johan Storgård, General Manager and CEO of Ace productions visited the CEM students yet again for a lecture on the issues of protection of IPR and the legal aspects of both production development and export. During his presentation: Rights and practices regarding Plays and Musicals – laws and agreements, we learned of the various practices and procedures that surround the intriguing details of what it takes to produce, in this case mainly Plays and Musicals, these very known mediums of cultural and artistic exchange (Music and Theatre).
As an example to begin the presentation, Johan Storgård makes reference to a series of ‘’six-liners’’ that the CEM students prepared last semester as part of an exercise. He pointed out, ‘‘that’s what I consider your work […] now, you have done that, how do you protect it?’’ The example was used as a way to illustrate firstly, that any type of artistic work (be it a script, or a song, etc.) is subject to both copyright protection and copyright infringement. Something as short as a “six-liner” can have the potential to be produced and thus to be plagiarized.
Four main topics were outlined during the presentation: Rights law and ways of protecting IPR rights, issues regarding export and agreement practices, the relation between the creator and the agent and the relation between the agent and the foreign producer. It is especially important for those who seek to develop a career in Culture Export Management to understand the impact of these subjects. The laws only provide certain tools and standards, however, learning about these is a personal and professional responsibility in order to participate in this field. Understanding the relationship between the creator, the agent and the foreign producer is important for any one organization or individual who wishes to produce something based on the work or rights to the work of someone else. Copyright infringement is a serious issue, and not understanding with “what and how do we approach these issues” can lead to damages; be it legal or economic.
Creator’s rights
“Why do we have an agreement in the first place?” asked Johan Storgård as he explained the essentiality of agreements in production and as important tool for the protection of Intellectual Property Rights (IPR). As an illustration, he spoke about the origins of writing and its purposes. Writing, as he very correctly pointed out, “wasn’t created to tell stories in the beginning, it was not at all important to tell stories, the reason why we created writing was because we needed to keep track on what was being bought and sold”. The type of writing he refers to is known as cuneiform writing (a kind of transit point between the pictograph and the earliest forms of modern writing as we know today) according to the most popular theories and archeological evidence, “was used for a vast array of economic, religious, political, literary, and scholarly documents” by the middle of the third millennium B.C.(http://metmuseum.org/toah/hd/wrtg/hd_wrtg.htm) “From the beginning until today, if we think about the time human beings have been writing […] protecting the rights [is] just about a hundred years old!” – Johan Storgård
Only until the end of the 1800’s were there formal discussions on the matters regarding the protection of “the writers” and “artists” or as I would encourage to call in today’s context of the 21st century, “the content creators” in a broader sense. The process began to really spark in the beginning of the 20th century with the search of a “general moral law” that could protect these rights. A system was thus put in development with better specifications as to who owns rights to what, how is that protected and for what period of time. This has resonated not only in the realm of the ‘Belles Arts’ but also in the fields of science as with medicine, inventions and research, for example.
“The rights legislation is built on freedom of agreement…”
Johan Storgård gave the example of a film titled: Deliverance (known in finnish as: Syvä Joki, or “Deep River”) as a way to illustrate how original products such as novels can dramatically change in the process of production and export through a different medium such as film. This is an issue that regards original IPR loaned to the interpretation of a third party such as an agent or a foreign producer. (note: from ‘foreign producer’ I understand ‘foreign’ as not only referring to the geographical sense of the word but also as simply ‘foreign to the original content’ meaning ‘was not directly involved with the creation of that original product’).
When a musical or a play is produced, these agreement practices take on an important role. The rights of the screenwriters and or music score composers are considered when the costs of production are being calculated and within that, calculations are made as to what the earnings for the author will be out of those costs. During the 1930’s, many examples of early conflicts regarding copyright infringement were taking place. At a time when film was only visual and music was only for the pleasure of listening, the moment that sound came to film; copyright infringement (intentional or not) took place until “they got it right”.
When speaking of copyrighted material we refer to a piece of work that was created by an individual or individuals with a claim at its originality. Copyrights don’t necessarily require registration. Commonly these rights with prove of authenticity remain protected up to 70 years after the authors’ death. One key important factor in the way these issues are handled is a simple system based on the principals of “recognition of others’ IPR”. An original work cannot be just slightly altered and published as something different of your own, nor one can base a new work on the work of another author without accreditation. What one can do is take an original piece and transform or interpret it while stating the original sources of inspiration. Examples of popular novels interpreted into film include: “Like Water for Chocolate” by Laura Esquivel, “Lord of the Rings” by J.R.R Tolkien, “The Star Wars Saga” by George Lucas and several writers and “What Dreams May Come” by Richard Matheson among others.
As a way to compensate artists or writers in this sense there are such things as royalties from which a writer or “content creator” receives an agreed percentage of the earnings of a production based on his or her work. There are also agreements in which region where a product is allowed to be produced, for how long, through which mediums (film, theatre, music, print, digital media, etc.) are stated. And there lies the main importance of an agreement of this sort, the freedom to determine under which terms and conditions can your work be used upon selling the full or partial rights to the content you have created. Full and Partial or Exclusive Rights
As an example, Johan Storgård pointed out the case of Mika Waltari’s 1945 “Sinuhe egyptiläinen”; A very known novel from which a film has also been produced. The issue brought to the table was the author’s decision to sell the full rights to his work. When selling rights to your work, stating the specifics is important. In this case, by selling the full rights to his work and not specifying any mediums or limitations for that matter, the author lost control of how his work is interpreted and how much can others earn income for it. There lies the main difference between full rights and exclusive rights ownership. Exclusive or partial rights only give you a certain amount of ownership depending on what the “content creator” has agreed on. For example, a writer can sell exclusive rights for the publishing of his novel to a publishing company without compromising where in the world it can be published, in what languages, etc. depending on what markets the author is aiming at. This way he or she could better keep track and control over who can publish his or her work and where, for example; it would also prevent other publishing houses from printing their work without agreeing on any terms and conditions that would favor the author. If you have produced, let’s say a film, and you have sold the full rights to, let’s say Universal Studios, they are free to produce and reproduce that film for as long as they intent and make as much profit as possible from it even beyond what was paid originally from you for the ownership. It is no longer yours and you no longer own those IPR. This is not the same as giving exclusive rights to your work necessarily. As an author you can still retain ownership over your work even when you have agreed or sold part of that work to someone. The rights become partial on the parties involved with the agreement and it is on that agreement that you have the opportunity to determine the terms and conditions on how much who owns, for how long, where, etc.
Conclusion
These are just a few reasons why understanding the rights protection practices and agreement procedures can be useful. Whether you are planning a career in culture export, business management or any type of production, you must bear in mind these important details in order to conduct business according to the internationally accepted standards. There are risks to be taken into consideration by authors, foreign producers and agents. Everything that is produced or created by a human is subject to copyright protection and thus copyrights infringement; anything from literature, films, music, research, scientific inventions and other patentable products. As a producer, agent or author in the process of production, one must take careful precautions and give significant consideration to not just the amount of work required for that production but also all the other works that served as an influence or paved the way for that final product.
Your work has value and so does the work of others, and from within that contrast, there are numerous benefits. Now, how these benefits are distributed is a responsibility and a right in itself to all “content creators”. – Alejandro Díaz Ortiz
During Porvoo Jazz Festival, Patrick Furu (PhD) held a seminar about Leading by Jazz. Furu showed and explained how to learn leadership through jazz bands improvising. He also showed how much similarities leadership and jazz bands have.
Patrick Furu speaker, Enrique Oliver, Marko Lohikari, André Somelius and Jaume Lombart in the background.
Leaders can learn that effectiveness in teams is not about how competent people are, but about how people communicate with each other. The pattern of communication is more important than how competent the people are as individuals.
Improvisation session with: Giorgos Kontrafouris playing the piano, Enrique Oliver playing saxophon, Marko Lohikari the double bass, André Somelius on the drums and Jaume Lombart playing Guitar.
In the same way as every organisation needs a strategy, Furu asked the jazz musicians to play a short song. First with strategy, meaning exactly the notes that were on the paper. After their first version they were asked to play in different ways with different rules every time. Through their improvisation different forms of communication, competence, empowerment, individual- and shared leadership were seen. Notice that the musicians had never played together before. The musicians had also a chance to say what they had in mind afterwards. Important was not to deny the ideas of others and to be open-minded.
In the same way as for leaders, someone has to start and take responsibility. Important thing to remember is to give everyone freedom in doing what they are responsible for.
CEM students together with musicians and lecturer. Starting from top left: Naomi Zino, Päivi Kettunen, Patrick Furu, Hanna Lehto, Mikael Miilumäki, Sari Jagielski, Chryssa Skodra, Enroqur Oliver, Jaume Lombart, Marko Lohikari, André Somelius & Giorgos Kontrfouris.
Four important words to remember: Language, Listening, Support & Responsibility. These words are important both when making music and for leaders. You can imagine the words as a closed circle. The language leads to listening and when you actively listen you start supporting. These three components leads to someone taking responsibility. Thinking backwards in the circle, you need to have support, to be able to listen and to have a shared language in order to be able to take responsibility. Responsibility will lead you back to the language and the process can continue.
Culture Export Management 