True democracy needs everyone
Ceyda Berk-Söderblom is an experienced arts manager, festival programmer and curator dedicated to social transformation and cultural policy. With over two decades of experience, she coordinates the Co-PED (Community-based Cultural and Social Centres as Incubators for Positive Energy Districts) and leads the Cultural Transformation Movement projects at Trans Europe Halles, focusing on the intersection of social justice and the energy transition. Ceyda is the co-founder of MiklagårdArts and a leading voice for DEI in the arts. Having previously contributed to policy development for the Finnish Ministry of Education and Culture, she currently serves as Chair of Culture for All, advancing accessibility, equity and systemic change in the arts sector in Finland.
To advocate for diversity in arts and culture is to advocate for democracy itself; the two are inseparable and form a single, urgent mandate. As cultural workers, we stand at a critical crossroads. At a time when core democratic values are being steadily eroded, an unavoidable question confronts us: How do we reposition ourselves not only to represent diversity, but to actively defend the individual agency that a functioning democracy requires?
In the reality we wake up to every day, where basic human rights and the values we uphold are being systematically challenged, diversity is not a peripheral asset; it is the core operating system. It is the architecture of the society we live in, ensuring that everyone has the unquestionable right to participate, belong, and shape the future. Without this, our democracy is dangerously undermined, our representation is narrow, and our social fabric is tragically weakened.
When I reflected on the tireless efforts of so many of you, I felt a deep despair at the enormity of the challenges we face, a realisation that my capabilities alone are not enough to stop global suffering, reverse cultural budget cuts, or uproot ingrained racism in highest political institutions, not enough to dismantle the far-right narratives poisoning our democracies. That realisation is painful. It strips away illusions of control. It forces humility. But at the bottom of that despair, something else becomes visible: the power of the collective. When my voice feels like a whisper in the storm, the collective becomes an amplification. This is where diversity work lives: within collective resistance and structural transformation.
Diversity work, the orchestrated effort to dismantle discriminatory structures, is, as Sara Ahmed 1 puts it, the work we do when we fundamentally refuse to fully inhabit the norms of an institution. Today, this work has never been more urgent and nothing less than defending the foundations of democracy, because current structures still fail to provide equal opportunities to art professionals belonging to underrepresented minorities. People are still marginalised and discriminated against, targeted for the colour of their skin, their ethnic background, nationality, abilities, gender identity, sexual orientation, or beliefs. Every detail of our identities, the very ornaments that make us human, are being weaponised as a tool of exclusion, a justification for racism, xenophobia, ethnic profiling, and dehumanisation.
At its heart, democracy is the living promise that every voice matters, that no one is invisible, and no one is left behind. Diversity is not about ticking boxes; it is about fundamentally re-engineering who holds power and ensuring our youth, newcomers, and people of all abilities have an unconditional sense of belonging. It is about building societies where different cultures, backgrounds, ages, abilities, and experiences are nurtured as our most potent resource. It is a mandate for intersectional sustainability and protection of social fabric that binds us together. That fabric is strongest when woven from threads as diverse as the communities it unites.
Furthermore, freedom of expression and cultural diversity are non-negotiable. When artists, journalists, and civil society speak with many voices, democracy thrives; when they are narrowed to just one narrative, democracy fails. Protecting diversity means protecting pluralism, the very lifeblood of our democratic system. The greatest threat today is the shrinking of our collective political imagination, and it is the bold presence of diverse voices that dares us to envision new futures.
Let us be clear: democracy without diversity is fragile and uninspired, but democracy through diversity is inclusive and full of possibility. When we commit to gender equality, human rights, and the rule of law, we prove that democracy does not belong to the majority alone, but to all of us on equitable terms. When we stand for human rights, rights of people with disabilities, and the rule of law, we defend the principle that diversity is not a challenge, but the greatest guarantee of democracy.
However, we must confront the systemic inequity in our leadership and funding. Today, in a polarising world, immigrants are framed as the universal “enemy.” History teaches us where that narrative leads. As a transborder professional shaped by Mediterranean heritage and migration stories, let me state clearly: Immigrants are not the enemy! The real enemy of society and democracy is racism, xenophobia, hate speech, the normalisation of harmful political narratives that politicise immigration, and the systems and structures that allow and spread these narratives.
Democracy does not collapse overnight. It erodes through normalisation, through everyday exclusion, through subtle policy shifts, through repeated messaging that some lives are less central than others. Countering this requires a practice that transcends condemnation: a language of hope, a framework of justice, and a commitment to radical transformation.
I conclude by sharing a passage from the Manifesto of Change 2, co-written by artists within the Cultural Transformation Movement: not only because poetry is one of the most powerful ways of meaning-making, and not only because it offers refuge when we are surrounded by empty words. I share it because it is an enchanting act of resistance that we must embody:
“We dream of a world where silenced stories are heard and valued,
vulnerabilities become strengths,
and love, not success, defines our lives.
We refuse to conform with injustice.
We refuse to accept lies.
We will repair, restore, rebuild.
We demand
stop the violence, start the rooting,
dismantling of oppressive systems,
a planet-first approach: care for all beings, slow down to protect…
This is a manifesto for those who dream of a better world. For anyone seeking to transform injustice into care in the cultural sector, disconnection into solidarity, and stagnation into creativity. If you’ve felt the urge to act but didn’t know where to begin, let this be your invitation.”
Take this invitation. Take this call to repair, restore, and rebuild. The courage we need is already here, in our collective power and in this vision. In this vision, diversity is the heartbeat of democracy, and true democracy needs everyone. This is the only meaningful future we must invest in.
This text References
- Sara Ahmed, On Being Included: Racism and Diversity in Institutional Life, Duke
University Press, 2012. - Manifesto of Change, written by Dounia Mahammed and Mira Bryssinck, Elie Laucher
and Emanuele Arturo Miceli, Ksenia Ulianova, Farila Neshat and facilitated by Laura
Camacho Salgado. Cultural Transformation Movement (CTM), 2025.
This is an adapted version of the keynote speech delivered by Ceyda Berk-Söderblom at the “Nordic Diversity Connections in Arts and Culture” seminar, held within the framework of the Co-Presidency of Finland and Åland of the Nordic Council of Ministers on 7 October 2025 in Oulu, Finland.
Festival Life creates shared moments of audiences and artists, eye-to-eye
