A month of artists boycott from the Kiasma Museum of Contemporary Art in Helsinki over the institution’s link with British-Finnish billionaire Chaim “Poju” Zabludowicz has come to an end. The cessation came after the Finnish National Museum, of which Kiasma is a part, announced that it would comply with new guidelines regarding ethical funding and thus remove Zabludowicz from the board of its supporting foundation. Zabludowicz, an avid art collector and co-founder, with his wife, Anita, of London’s Zabludowicz Collection, is the CEO of London-based investment group Tamares. Founded by Zabludowicz’s father, who made his fortune facilitating the arms trade between Finland and Israel, Tamares owns stakes in Knafaim Holdings, a contractor providing military aircraft maintenance services to the army. Israeli Air Force, and in Palantir Technologies, which develops data analysis tools used by Israeli security forces for espionage and profiling.
“The strike was called in solidarity with the Palestinians. It is important that our largest arts institution has taken human rights issues seriously. We are happy that it was possible to conduct this difficult discussion in a constructive spirit so that it is now good to return to cooperation,” said visual artist Terike Haapoja, who together with Eero Yli-Vakkuri in October last published an open letter asking Kiasma to remove Zabludowicz from the support foundation’s board. The letter cited not only Zabludowicz’s connection to Tamares, but also to the pro-Israel lobby group BICOM (Britain Israel Communications and Research Centre), of which he is a co-founder. Established in 2002, BICOM aims to dismiss all characterizations of Israel as an apartheid state, as Amnesty International presented in a 2022 report report.
Kiasma director Leevi Haapala also resigned from the board of the Kiasma Support Foundation, which Zabludowicz was instrumental in establishing. According to the Finnish National Gallery new guidelines, which also affect the Ateneum and the Sinebrychoff Art Museum, the museum will refuse donations from organizations sanctioned by the Finnish government, or those affiliated with oil and gas production, the tobacco industry, the the manufacture of weapons or the production of environmentally hazardous chemicals. The regulations also prohibit the museum from establishing links with “organizations or other bodies whose operations promote the oppression of minorities or violations of human rights, authoritarian governance, gender inequality or criminal activities”. Mindful of the new rules, the Finnish National Gallery is more transparent about its private funding streams, so anyone can request and review documents regarding its private support.
