http://www.magneetti.org/veturitalli/index_en.html
http://www.flickr.com/photos/magneetti
Our plan was, I believe, a great one. We intended to revitalise an underused area of Rovaniemi, and create in it a new centre for media arts which would be relevant to today's contemporary art scene and to today's society in general. It would have contributed to the tourism industry in Rovaniemi, and its location near to the station. It wold have employed people, provided education for local schools, created a true contemporary art scene in Rovaniemi, and supported local artists and media organisations. The building was perfect. The plan was reasonable. Our motivation was high.
So what happened?
We made an arrangement with the owners of the building that allowed us to retain use of the building until 31.12.06 for free. After that we would have to pay. The rent for the space wasn't much, but as we essentially have no budget it was beyond our limited means.
Our aim was to get the University of Lapland and/or Rovaniemi City behind the project so we could apply for funding. The funds we would be applying for only pay the money after the project is underway, so you need to have considerable cash-flow to get things started. This was why we needed a larger organization to act as a backer for the project - someone to put the money up front and act as the main applier for the funds. We talked to the development officer at the University of Lapland. She was keen and interested, but she was also involved in so many project that in the end she wasn't a lot of help.We never seemed to progress anywhere.
So we talked to Rovaniemi City's culture office, but although Marja Widenius was vaguely interested, of course 'Rovaniemi City doesn't have any money' (unless of course the project involves reindeer)
Even with all the enthusiasm in the world, this kind of project can only succeed if there is someone in the local city administration or other large organization with equal enthusiasm to make it happen. Unfortunately, finding someone with the vision to see what Magneetti can bring to the city and to Lapland is not easy. This is a very conservative town, and often the future seems a long way away.
So that's about it. By the end of the year, nobody had come forward to back the project, so we had to return the keys. We lost a great space. Roveniemi lost a great new focus for contemporary arts and the opportunity to increase it's image as a contemporary city.
In the end, you can only put so much into working on a project like Magneetti. If you are met with a lack of enthusiasm from people in power there's not much more you can do. After a while you just end up thinking 'why am I bothering? If they don't want this to happen why should I keep fighting for it alone?'
We will keep trying of course, but if those people don't want change and progress, there's not a lot you can do until they are either resign or are removed from their positions. And in Finland, that never happens.
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