Imagine Everyday! Outsider Art Finland Seminar

SEMINAR: Art as a catalyst for societal change – disability employment and socially sustainable business models

Imagine Everyday! – seminar connects creative businesses from Finland & Japan in co-creation and collaboration for sustainable social change. This seminar features keynote presentations from Finnish and Japanese Outsider Art Agencies and panel discussion of designing future visions for management and research within social change and diversity within the creative industries.

The purpose of this seminar is to generate discussion on how art and creative industries can serve as a catalyst for change in organizations and on a societal level. The keynotes present unique business cases and brands of Heralbony and the famous punk band Pertti Kurikan Nimipäivät PKN , founders of Pertti’s Choice and Outsider Art Finland.

The seminar is an important opportunity to amplify the voices of marginalized actors within the creative industries to highlight emerging talents and collaborations driving change towards more inclusive societies and businesses. The panel discussion speakers highlight the topic from the perspective of outsider artists, managers, curators, and researchers.

The seminar invites both professionals and the public audience interested in the topic. The seminar venue is Design Hub located in Tokyo Midtown Design Hub.. The event program is also available online and accessible both in Finnish and Japanese, featuring optional translations in English.

The event is organised in conjunction with Imagine Everyday!- art exhibition in Heralbony Gallery (link to event website) in collaboration with Pertin Valinta / Outsider Art Festival OAF, Heralbony and the Finnish Institute in Japan. The collaboration is supported by Saastamoinen foundation, Finnish Cultural Foundation, Frame Finland and the Arts Promotion Center.

Schedule

17:00 Opening words: Jaakko Nousiainen, Director of Finnish Institute in Japan
17:05-17:45 Pertin Valinta, Disability employment innovations, Sami Helle (Founder of Pertin Valinta) 
Inclusive strategizing in the Experience Economy ecosystems, Heini Merkkiniemi (Festival director, PhD researcher)
17:45-18:10 Opening Up New Possibilities in Business and Society with Heralbony Artist, Ryotaro Kamada (project manager, HERALBONY)
Coffee break
18:30-18:55 Equal paths to desirable futures, Satu Tani (Artist, PhD researcher)
19:00-19:30 Challenges and solutions in supporting inclusion and disability employment in Finland and Japan in the creative industries – Panel discussion (Merkkiniemi, Tani, Helle, Kamada, Miyahara as moderator)
19:30-20:00 Networking