KULTVA has once again had an eventful, versatile, and exciting spring. The network organized and co-organized ten individual events and nine film screenings as a part of our new film club series. In addition to all the organized events, KULTVA piloted a translation tool so that its events could be more achievable and truly bilingual. We also created principles for safer space which have been followed in all of our spring events. The work to make KULTVA even more achievable and genuinely open to all will continue in the autumn.

Importantly, save the date for the main event of the autumn: KULTVA celebrates its 10th anniversary this year! Therefore, you definitely want to add the date 10.10.2024 to your calendar. More info is coming soon!

In the spring of 2024, KULTVA organized four bigger seminars. The first one was about Capitalist realism in Finland, where speakers talked about the timeliness of Mark Fisher’s work. The seminar gathered about 50 participants and the discussion was lively. The other one, co-organized with Ihmisyyden monet puolet -network, focused on the potential of expanding the concept of humanity in Finnish society. Even with almost 100 people joining, the conversations were profound. Lastly, KULTVA co-organized two online seminars on the series of Current Intersections of Culture, Language, and Wellbeing with the Centre for the Study of Language and Wellbeing. The themes of structural racism and migration and mind and body in health and culture brought a lot of attendees to Zoom.

We organized some events specifically for researchers and students who might be interested in the researcher’s career path. In How to Be a Researcher many undergraduate students came to listen and discuss about the everyday life of PhD researchers. Also, the last part of the three-part funding workshop was organized in early January. Many participants had already sent their funding applications, so only a few people participated. However, peer-to-peer support was appreciated.

KULTVA organized two events around new scientific publications: The unboxing event of a Finnish journal Yhdyskuntasuunnittelu and an event where four journals and a new book by Johannes Kananen (2024) were presented. The unboxing event was unfortunately organized during a surprising April snow blizzard, yet still, few students participated courageously. In both events, the discussions were inspiring and intriguing not only for the people who came to listen but also for the speakers.

We collaborated with Turku with Palestine and Researchers for Palestine by organizing two events. Hurdle screening and discussion brought together a few people for an interesting film. The Academic Boycott of Israel lecture gathered a lot of participants, almost 50 people, for lively discussions. We will continue to co-organize events on this extremely important topic.

KULTVA, Kirjakahvila, and the research project Imagining Sustainable Digital Futures (Aalto University) co-organized Alternative Futures Film Club series, which ran from January to May. Film screenings attracted a lot of participants and many stayed to take part in the intriguing discussions after the films ended. This surprised the organizers: It seems that the film club has an important place in the Turku scene since many people did not only make time to come and watch movies on weekday evenings but also decided to stay even later to chat.

KULTVA would like to thank all the people who attended our events in the spring of 2024. We hope to see you again in the autumn – there would not be us if there would not be you! Also, KULTVA warmly thanks the following speakers (in alphabetical order):

Christina Slopek-Hauff

Eeva Houtbeckers

Elisa Aaltola

Hanna Tyvelä

Johanna Ennser-Kananen

Johannes Kananen

Kaisa Kuurne

Kimmo Jylhämö

Markus Laaninen

Miina Savolainen

Pauline Norris

Johanna Nurmi

Pontus Purokuru

Quivine Ndomo

Riikka Perälä

Silja McNamara

Syksy Räsänen