The Stories from Gaza campaign was awarded the Year’s Champion Action

The Trade Union for Art and Culture Professionals TAKU has awarded the Stories from Gaza campaign an honorary mention for the Year’s Champion Action. More than 70 Finnish theatres and other cultural organizations participated in the campaign.

According to the selection committee, the campaign is a strong example of cooperation in the arts and culture sector, and the opportunity to influence and act as a channel for increasing understanding. The implementation is a joint effort by actors in the cultural sector, demonstrating their professional skills and team spirit.

As part of the campaign, the theatres published videos on social media featuring texts written by children in Gaza read aloud. The campaign has reached hundreds of thousands of people on social media, with individual videos receiving tens of thousands of views at their peak. Several media outlets also wrote about the campaign. Some of the participating theaters organized events related to the campaign during the fall.

The initiative for the campaign came from Matilda von Weissenberg, Managing Director of & Espoo Theatre, and the campaign was coordinated by &. A similar campaign was organized in Sweden in the spring of 2025 under the leadership of Folkteatern, with more than 30 theatres participating.

"It was wonderful to see how other theatres immediately started planning their own videos and supporting the initiative," says von Weissenberg.

The purpose of the campaign is to remind people that what is happening in Gaza is happening to real people, to individuals.

“Children are actually living there—and dying. Our job is to tell their stories.”

The social media videos include a link for donating money to Gaza through Doctors Without Borders. The proceeds from the reading events have also been directed to the same cause. So far, over €10,000 has been raised! The prize money for the Year’s Champion Action Award is €1,000, which will also be donated to Doctors Without Borders.

Trade Union for Art and Culture Professionals TAKU awarded the Year’s Champion Action honorary mention on Friday, November 28. The selections were made by a jury consisting of members of TAKU's board based on nominations submitted via an open form.