Ring the Bells (and Sing a Song) to celebrate International Arts Education Week

By: Tintti Karppinen*

On 1 November 2006 at 11:00 there was a large demonstration in Finland for arts in education. Pupils and students in schools and universities, cultural institutions and workers in the creative industries rang their bells from wherever they were; in many instances these bells were also their alarm clocks, mobile phones or any improvised ringing implement.

The demonstrating reaches across the social strata and encouraged others outside of the arts and cultural fields, like social workers, doctors, nurses, radio and television personalities, and churches.  At 11:00, for one minute, all around the country this diverse set of momentary activists rang the bells to remind politicians and other decision makers, teachers, parents and all citizens around the country about the importance of arts in education! 

Tarja Halonen, Ex-President of Finland, ringing FIDEA Bell with Tintti Karppinen, when FIDEA celebrated IDEA DAY by giving status of Member of Honour to Tarja Halonen for her valuable work to promote drama/theatre and peace education.

The title of the demonstration was "The Eleventh Moment " (in Finnish it is the phrase for last moment). In this same moment of bell ringing, we published our declaration. In it we demanded that children and students must have a balance in school subjects so that the arts are on the same level as other subjects.    

In the same year there was also another declaration “OUR CULTURE IS …“, published by the International Drama/Theatre Education Association, the International Society for Education through Art, and the International Society for Music Education, which was given to UNESCO on 15 February 2000, and the UNESCO World Congress 2006 in Lisbon. We demonstrated this long-term investment and constant advocacy by the arts education field.

Our declaration was signed by 71 Finnish educational and cultural organisations, institutes and trade unions and by 128 of the most well-known leading artists from theatre, music, visual art and dance.  

Since that moment, back in 2006, Finnish Drama/Theatre Education Association (FIDEA) members continue to ring the bells around the country and advocate for arts education annually and remind politicians and other decision-makers about the importance of arts in education – and  especially about drama/theatre, because it is still the less accessible to child among art forms.

This year, in honor of International Arts Education Week – from 25-31 May 2020 – we will be ringing our bells at 12:00 local time on 25 May.

Just this last year, in October in Frankfurt, Germany, the World Alliance for Arts Education convened over 200 delegates from 49 nations to craft the Frankfurt Declaration. During this convening, a song was also crafted – perhaps this is a small addition to the ringing of the bells, to carry our message to those decision-makers we hope to reach.

 

Arts Belongs to All 

The future needs creative people

 - that is clear to all!

Drama, Music, Visual Art and 

Dance are for us all!

Arts in education, therefor, 

must belong to all!

Politicians, can you hear our call!

melody: William Steffe  

original words William Steffe: Brothers, Will You Meet Me? 

later well-known words Pete Seeger: Solidarity for ever   

words by Tintti Karppinen 

*Tintti Karppinen

Tintti Karppinen is a drama teacher, specialized in socio drama, communicative skills, and drama for peace education. She is a Trainer of teachers and other professionals in universities, institutions, organisations and focuses her courses for refugees and immigrants and for their teachers. Tintti has served numerous roles within Finnish Drama/Theatre Education Association (FIDEA) as President (1974 – 1984), Vice President (1984-2002), and Chair of Honour since 2012. Similarly, within the International Drama/Theatre Education Association (IDEA), she has served numerous roles on the Executive Committee 1995-2013. Tintti has also been a speaker at UNESCO global conferences on arts education since 1998.