Members of Finland's cultural and arts sectors took to the streets of Helsinki on Monday afternoon to demonstrate against the government's plans to cut funding to the industry.
The protest — called Kivi voittaa sakset in Finnish, or 'Stone beats scissors' — began at 3pm in the capital's downtown area, with an estimated 200 people in attendance.
Writer Rosa Meriläinen, who also serves as president of Kulta, the Central Organization for Finnish Culture and Arts Associations, told Yle that the sector organised the protest against the planned cuts because "culture is at the heart of humanity".
"It is who we are. There is a basic need to be heard, to hear each other's stories and to understand each other better," Meriläinen said, adding her hope that the government would recognise the importance of culture and arts funding and change its mind about the budget reductions.
"The planned sum is so small that it will not save the economy, but it would be a deep blow to the cultural sector," she said.
The industry has already lost more than 8 million euros in funding this year and, under a proposal by the Ministry of Finance, is set to see its budget shrink by a further 4.3 million euros next year.
If the cuts were to continue, representatives of the sector noted, culture and arts could see its budget reduced by up to 30 million euros by 2027.
Finland's government began two days of crucial budget talks earlier in the day on Monday, as it seeks to plug gaps in the state budget of up to 9 billion euros.
Prime Minister Petteri Orpo (NCP) told reporters that he expected the discussions would be "extremely difficult".
Helsinki police had earlier issued a warning that the demonstration would cause temporary disruption to traffic around the city centre on Monday evening.
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