Coordinating and Facilitating Bilateral Cultural Contacts

Abstract

AbstractIn 1970, when Marjatta Oksanen joined the Ministry of Education, the Department of international affairs was divided into three administrative units: multilateral affairs, bilateral affairs (with two different organizations for East and West) and Nordic relations. The Finnish state managed various forms of cultural relations with countries or groups of countries, mostly in a facilitative function: support for exhibitions or concerts, longer-term support for cultural centres or language teaching and so forth. Most of these bilateral activities originated from private initiatives, and some domains like sports, scientific cooperation or relations with the Soviet Union were dominated by private, non-governmental or semi-public organizations that acted on their own or to whom the state devolved certain functions. Generally, only relations with the Soviet Union and technical issues with strong foreign political dimensions commanded a degree of involvement from the Ministry for Foreign Affairs and interest from the country’s higher political leadership.