After the European Capital of Culture title went to Oulu, the municipalities of Pirkanmaa launched an independent regional cultural development project called Operation Pirkanmaa. During the period 2022–2024, the project drew on the plans made for the Tampere26 bid but also developed new cultural programming.
Operation Pirkanmaa was a joint effort by 20 municipalities where they took an active decision to invest time and money in improving citizens' access to the arts and realising their cultural rights. At the same time, the project built a network of municipal cultural workers in the region.
These 20 municipalities included Tampere, Akaa, Hämeenkyrö, Ikaalinen, Kangasala, Kuhmoinen, Lempäälä, Mänttä-Vilppula, Nokia, Orivesi, Parkano, Pirkkala, Pälkäne, Ruovesi, Sastamala, Urjala, Valkeakoski, Vesilahti, Virrat and Ylöjärvi.
Operation Pirkanmaa developed the cultural region and supported the creative fields through a variety of activities, such as cultural programming, touring projects, open calls and capacity building.
The project was also part of the Covid recovery plan of the creative sectors and channeled support to projects that involved freelancers. The projects reported for this period an input of 59 work-years, out of which freelancers represented 21 work-years.
The piloting of new models included the meanwhile use scheme of empty buildings or commercial premises owned by municipalities where they were made available for use by cultural operators for free. Operation Pirkanmaa also introduced and supported the demolition-house art projects, Pinni47 (20 000 visitors in 2023) and Muutos.art (26 000 visitors in 2024).
Within the frame of the meanwhile use model, Operation Pirkanmaa produced the final project called Window Walkabout, where different art forms were curated to the windows for the public walking on the streets. Between October and November, more than 200 art windows were on display in Pirkanmaa, with over 1000 artists creating content for the windows. More than 126 000 visitors attended the Window Walkabout event, of which around 116 000 visited the event in Tampere city centre.
The budget for the period 2022-2024 was EUR 2.6 million, of which Tampere's share was EUR 1.9 million. Between 2022 and 2024, Operation Pirkanmaa financed the cultural content with €1.6 million, while other funding for these projects amounted to around €1.3 million.
In addition, several independent projects were launched as a result of the European Capital of Culture bid and have received separate funding of around €2.4 million. These projects include the Pirkanmaa Producer Bank and the Culture Bank, both of which have been allies in the development work of Operation Pirkanmaa.
The regional economic impact was assessed for the final Window Walkabout event: around 1100 people responded to the visitor survey of the project during a three-week period. The economic impact of the event, which attracted in total 126 000 visitors, was estimated at € 2.1 million (source: Salmi Platform).
- The three-year project has been breathtaking! Thousands of actors from the cultural and artistic fields have been involved in the projects. Together, we have transformed the cultural region of Pirkanmaa in a way that has created a positive spiral of development. This spirit must be maintained in the future", says Ilona Kyykoski, project manager.
At the end of the three-year period, the best practices and regional cooperation will continue: the City of Tampere together with the network of municipalities will sign an agreement committing to continuing regional cultural development in the coming years.
