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The electric kantele and other learning experiences |
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Achieving Action 8 January 2010
Finnish handicrafts have long traditions. People across the country have crafted a great variety of handmade goods, from handbags to furniture to musical instruments, some of which have been exported by small businesses. At the turn of the millennium, Sitra, the Finnish Innovation Fund launched a project to find out whether Finnish musical instruments could become an international success story. Intended for instrument builders, the project was part of Sitra’s extensive Skills Technology Project.
“I think many Finns know that the kantele, our national instrument, has an electric version. One of the goals of our project was to examine the export potential for the electric kantele,” says Outi Mäkelä, a first-term Member of Parliament who worked as Project Manager for the musical-instrument project.
“We wanted to make Finnish instrument builders aware of the importance of networking and to introduce a more entrepreneurial mind-set to this traditional craft. The project provided instrument builders with new information, and Sitra gained useful experience with network-based processes,” Mäkelä says.
“Personally, the project taught me that sometimes you need to think big and consider options that may at first seem crazy.”
Wood for violins—and garden furnitureThe project did not make Finland a global centre of musical-instrument building. The instrument builders lived too far apart and used very different materials. This ruled out, for example, joint material purchases that would have allowed for lower prices for higher-quality materials.
The project did, however, have at least one positive result: the development of ThermoWood. The idea was to artificially age the chemical structure of wood through thermal treatment. It was thought that this chemically aged wood could then be used to build musical instruments with qualities resembling those of naturally aged instruments. According to experts, the aged wooden material is one of the secrets behind the distinct sound of the legendary Stradivarius violins.
Despite great effort, these plans never materialised. The qualities of ThermoWood have, however, been developed further. ThermoWood is now used in garden furniture, for example, as an environmentally friendly alternative to pressure-treated wood.
Church organs could make great Finnish exportsIn addition to acoustic and electric kanteles, Finns have traditionally built pianos, guitars and pipe organs. Piano manufacturers have long since moved to the Far East, but Finland still produces many other instruments on a small scale, often to suit the particular needs of famous artists. The high costs in Finland make mass production of musical instruments practically impossible.
“In hindsight, we should have invested more in creating an international brand for the Finnish pipe organ industry, because Finland has unique expertise in church-organ building. Perhaps this expertise could be exported,” Mäkelä says.
“Church-organ builders don’t tend to large masses of customers, and the Finnish market is not large enough. Globally, the number of churches is high, which makes the market much wider.”
Forests, culture and energyAccording to Mäkelä, Finland should invest in the construction and forest industries as well as in culture and theater. The forest industry seems to have reached the end of an era in Finland and needs new operating models. Forests continue to cover a large portion of Finland, and new forests are growing.
“In cultural products, I’m worried about how supply and demand will meet in the future. Will the younger generations be as interested in traditional high culture as the baby boomers are?” Mäkelä says.
“In the energy industry, Finland has a lot of strengths, which lie both in technological innovation and material development. This could well become a new cornerstone for Finnish exports.”
Risk-takers are neededMäkelä has fond memories of working for Sitra. One of the unique aspects of the organization’s culture was that failures were seen as positive results. As an innovation fund, Sitra’s whole purpose is to take risks, and not all risks pay off. Mäkelä’s current work as a Member of Parliament does not allow for this luxury of creative experimenting.
“Surprisingly, one of the first lessons we learned in Sitra’s Skills Technology Project was about clothing: it’s not a good idea to wear a dark suit or skirt suit to meetings with craftsmen and craftswomen,” Mäkelä says.
“Their work is very hands-on. A craftsman who has just built a bass from a tin can acts much more relaxed and natural around a project manager in jeans.”
Text and photo: Kai Tarkka/TrueStory
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Outi Mäkelä
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