New Cut! Brings Finnish Minister Paavo Arhinmäki to U.S. for NYC Workshop

Finland’s Minister of Culture and Sport recently joined dozens of Helsinki- and NYC-based creative professionals for the launch of New Cut!, a Finnish program promoting global creative collaboration and fostering Finnish arts and culture initiatives over the course of the next year. Top-level professionals from the film, fashion, music, technology, food, advertising, and design industries assembled for a full day of exploration, collaboration, and open discussion – laying the groundwork for a year-long agenda of exciting new collaborative projects and events.

Invited guests and New Cut! participants convened at the West Village’s AIA Gallery on Thursday for a kick-off luncheon and a series of presentations, including a warm welcome from Finnish Minister of Culture and Sport Paavo Arhinmäki. The Minister expounded on Helsinki’s recognized position as Europe’s major creative hub, extolling the city’s exceptional music scene, vast audiovisual and content industries, and its status as the 2012 World Design Capital.

Among the presenters, some used their time to share business and creative philosophies, including Finnish Innovation Fund Design Lead Brian Boyer who delivered an exploration of the Finnish model of “Open Collaboration.” Others used the opportunity to continue ongoing initiatives.

Following presentations, guests were invited to participate in the day’s main event – a two-hour roundtable discussion of the new opportunities for open creative collaboration between Helsinki & New York. The talks inspired enthusiastic contributions from the assembled guests, which included Ville Tikka, Strategy Director at Wevolve; Teemu Suviala, Creative Director and Owner of Kokoro & Moi; Mikko Kalhama, CEO, Design Forum Finland; Rick Bell, Director of AIA; and Eric McLellan, A&R at Sire Records, among many others.

“New Cut! is about bringing the best in the creative world together to share and learn from their valued experience and ideas, not only as a productive venture for those involved, but for the benefit of the global creative community on the whole,” noted New Cut! Founder and Principal Project Manager Atte Laurila. Indeed, the ambitions of the New Cut! program go far beyond New York City. Arhinmäki, Laurila, and the rest of the New Cut! team already have plans for similar year-long programs of cultural exchange, bringing the resources and talent of Helsinki’s vibrant creative sector to numerous global creative hubs.

Looking to the immediate future, New Cut! is working to build opportunities for creative projects in New York and Helsinki, with Thursday’s event being the first of many. New Cut! organizers already have several project proposals under review, each focusing on exchange and collaboration between creative and business professionals between the two cities. New Cut! is coordinated by FAVEX – Finnish Film & Audiovisual Export, Design Forum Finland and Music Finland.

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About New Cut!:

New Cut! explores open culture in open exchange. We have a strong Nordic cultural heritage and a vast supply of inclusive, honest and accessible ideas that are ripe for export. New Cut! is not just a series of events. We aim to create a movement for continuous international cultural collaboration and enable flourishing new creative business.