Uniarts Helsinki conferred 51 doctorates, 57 master’s degrees and eight honorary doctorates in its conferment ceremony
Uniarts Helsinki’s second-ever conferment event took place in Helsinki from 16 to 18 August 2024. The public had the chance to take part in the festivities by attending the Celebration of the Arts event at the Helsinki Music Centre and by watching the procession along with its artistic programme on the streets of Helsinki.
Master’s and doctoral graduates from Uniarts Helsinki’s three academies – the Academy of Fine Arts, Sibelius Academy and Theatre Academy – were conferred their degrees in the official conferment ceremony. Additionally, eight honorary doctorates were conferred on individuals who represent pioneers in their fields, advocates for arts education or influencers who have advanced the societal role and significance of the arts in Finland and internationally.
The recipients of honorary doctorates were President of the Republic of Finland Alexander Stubb, conductor Susanna Mälkki, Romani music performer and collector Hilja Grönfors, theatre influencer Hanna Helavuori, CEO Heikki Lehtonen, Brazilian dancer, choreographer and teacher Lia Rodrigues, German filmmaker, writer and researcher Hito Steyerl and British contemporary artist Tacita Dean. The title of honorary doctor is the highest honour that the university can award to a person.
“The conferment ceremony is a way to show collective appreciation for academic and artistic achievements and for the entire university institution. Amid the polarisation that is going on around us, the universities have all the more important duty to bring together various perspectives, cultures, world views and interpretations and act as a platform for free dialogue between them,” Rector of Uniarts Helsinki Kaarlo Hildén said.
“In a world ridden with worry, we also need moments where we get to experience joy and pride over what we have accomplished as an academic community.”
The eventful week fostered academic traditions
The conferment week began with dance rehearsals under the tutelage of Professor of Music Education Marja-Leena Juntunen, who taught the promovendi the academic ballroom dances that they later got to dance at the conferment dinner.
At the wreath-weaving event, the companions of master’s promovendi weaved a laurel leaf wreath to the promovendi as a symbol of erudition – and victory, as was the culture in ancient Rome. Doctoral promovendi and honorary doctors, on the other hand, participated in the doctoral hat try-on event together with their companions.
The conferment weekend was kicked off with the Celebration of the Arts event, which was open to the public, in the Concert Hall of the Helsinki Music Centre on Friday, 16 August 2024. The evening began with Uniarts Helsinki students’ multi-artistic production, which took the audience to a musical journey depicting the human life path. After the show, it was time to enjoy music and performances in the foyer and out on the terrace of the Helsinki Music Centre and an art exhibition featuring works by eight Academy of Fine Arts students. The works will continue to be exhibited in the display cabinets that go around the main Concert Hall until 29 August 2024.
The conferment of academic degrees took place in the most important and dignified event of the week, the conferment act, in the Concert Hall of the Helsinki Music Centre on Saturday morning on 17 August 2024.
During the ceremonial conferment, masters received laurel wreaths and doctors received doctoral hats. Professor of art history and theory Riikka Stewen served as the promoter for the Academy of Fine Arts, while professor of music research Tuire Kuusi was the promoter for the Sibelius Academy, and professor of choreography Kirsi Monni was the promoter for the Theatre Academy.
“Art doesn’t give up when faced with difficult questions. Art lives, changes, seeks connections, creates new alternative spaces, shapes – thanks to an ever-increasing group of creators. Go on and represent your skill and knowledge with pride,” said conferrer for the Theatre Academy Kirsi Monni in her speech for the promovendi.
“Let art pick up where words end”
On Saturday afternoon, the public had the opportunity to watch one of the most visually striking moments of the conferment event, the procession that consisted of masters, doctors and honorary doctors walking through the Helsinki city centre. There was a range of artistic performances happening on the route of the procession, which left from the Helsinki Music Centre and later split into two groups, one going to the ecumenical jubilee in the Temppeliaukio Church and the other to the secular jubilee at Kulttuurikasarmi.
The day of the ceremony had a distinguished finish at the Old Student House, where the conferred masters and doctors along with their companions and other special guests gathered for a dinner. The evening culminated in a conferment ball.
“Uniarts Helsinki’s inexhaustible natural resource is creativity and the constant ability to reinvent itself. The ability to pass on tradition and cultural heritage while experimenting, failing, experimenting, and ultimately succeeding. To liberate art as the conscience of the homeland and humanity, to let art pick up where words end,” the Sibelius Academy’s master’s promovendus Annika Lyytikäinen said in her speech for Uniarts Helsinki.
Following the conferment traditions, the week ended with an excursion, which was arranged by the Uniarts Helsinki Student Union on Lonna Island on Sunday, 18 August 2024.
Uniarts Helsinki conferment ceremony
Uniarts Helsinki organised its first-ever conferment ceremony for masters and doctors in 2018. Conferment ceremonies for masters and doctors have taken place at the Sibelius Academy in 1997, 2003 and 2012, and in 2006 at the Academy of Fine Arts. The Theatre Academy organised a doctoral conferment ceremony in 2009.
