Julian Garner

I grew up in London but have lived most of my adult life in Norden. After moving from Norway to Finland in 1998 I settled in Fiskars with my Finn-Brit family and continued my career as a playwright, stage director, teacher, and cultural entrepreneur. From 2004, when I co-founded CulturaMobila r.f., I have happily combined making community arts events, in collaboration with people living in small communities, with mounting plays at professional theatres in cultural centres such as Helsinki, Edinburgh, Prague and London.

My work often involves travel, which I enjoy, but I always look forward to returning home to Västnyland, where I have lived longer - and been happier - than anywhere else in my life.

For me, the word culture doesn’t stop at the arts. Rather it implies the shared attitudes, values, goals, and practices that shape the way of life of a group, or society. Our culture reflects in the way we eat, talk, dress, play, conduct business, tend the land, raise children, care for the elderly. Or - for that matter - tell stories and do politics. A healthy culture is one that listens to and speaks of - and for - the whole community, across multiple levels of interest and experience, without prejudice, in the pursuit of mutual insight and understanding.

This, then, is the perspective I bring to my candidature for the coming local election, 2021. I believe that my 40+ years of experience working with people from many different backgrounds equips me to make a meaningful contribution to local politics in the area.