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What is the situation for culture in the Nordic countries and around the Baltic sea? How is the situation for artists? And what about the cultural policy in our countries? These matters were discussed among over 100 participants in the town of Visby at Gotland in the middle of the Baltic sea.
Introduction
Is
there a culture in common for the region?
Income,
social security and taxation systems bad for most artists
Nordic
cooperation and the arms lenght´s
principle
Fairly
good conditions for cultural cooperation
Cultural
policy by and for whom?
Cultural
policy for diversity or “European values”?
Is
the Norwegian model useful for the rest of the Nordic countries?
How do we
proceed?
Andrej Bitov, Russia, reads accompanied by Vladimir
Tarasov,
Lithuania, on the stage of Wisby Strand, the
congress hall in Visby.
Photo: Bernt Lindberg
The meeting was arranged by the Artists’ Councils in the Nordic countries in cooperation with Baltic Writers Council. We had some meetings in common, other parts of the programme were parallel. The assembly was supported by the Municipality of Gotland, Gotland County Administration, Gotland University, the Nordic Cultural Fund, the Swedish Arts Council and the Swedish Institute.
Inger Harlevi, head of the cultural committée in the Municipality of Gotland, said that Gotland has a very rich cultural life with three international artists centres, lots of art galleries and a new congess hall. The cultural heritage is also evident with the old hanseatic town of Visby.
-We work to strengthen this cultural profile, and want to play a role in the Baltic cooperation.
Also the Gotland County administration, represented by Anders Granat, pointed out that they want to support culture in Gotland and will very much see cultural meetings here.
Lena Pasternak from the Baltic Centre for Writers and Translators was one of the co-organizers. She said that more than 40 nationalities have visited the centre and cooperation that starts here continues out in the big world. Today the centre is internationally recognized and acts under the auspices of UNESCO. And now also the Arts Councils meet here and that is good.
Karin Enberg, chairwoman of the Swedish umbrella KLYS, said that Sweden does not have a ”Nordens hus” and Visby can come in there. She also hoped for a constructive discussion about similarities and discrepancies and about cultural policy in our countries.
Klaus-Jürgen Liedtke, chairman of the Baltic Writers Council, told the audience about an authors’ cruise around the Baltic in 1992. It was the starting point for the cooperation among the Baltic writers. They at that time found out that the cultures were very disparate from north to south – like a meeting between a concentration camp and a kindergarten.
No, there is not. Several speakers pointed out that there are differences in both history and today’s culture. Some countries have oppressed others and the wounds take a long time to heal. Meetings like this could contribute to this. Some cultural similarities do not follow the national borders but might go from west to east instead of from north to south, like the sami culture in four countries.
Tor Eystein Överås had made an eight months’ journey around the area and written a book about it, “Til. En litterær reise” (Gyldendal 2005). On his journey he had found similarities in the literature in different countries. Historically lakes and rivers had united people. Sweden and Norway stand with the back against one another and Los Angeles feels closer for a Norwegian than Helsinki. In general the landscape on a certain latitude has its similarities but is divided by national borders. And these borders divide literature.
-I would like to connect literature in these nine countries with one another!
Rosemarie Tietze had translated Andrej Bitov from Russian to German and also started the German Translators’ Fund. She now read a piece of prose by Bitov translated by herself.
Andrej Bitov, Russia, and Valdimir Tarasov from Lithuania performed on voice and drums in several intense works. Bitov said that he uses his voice like a wind instrument in jazz music.
–Some people think that the Sami culture belongs to the past and should be placed in historical museums, said Rose-Marie Huuva, Sami writer and artist. And she told a true story about a book “Viida” (Podium 2006) that she had been taking part in as a writer and also edited. The publisher had engaged a translator who should translate from Sami to Swedish and who also suggested changes in the Sami text. It led to several conflicts with the publisher.
-It is easier when the publisher belongs to the same culture.
-When the book was finished the publisher wanted to present it at the Nordic museum in Stockholm, a museum associated with the colonization of the Samiland and with a large Sami collection impossible to reach for the sami people. Why not the Culture House in Stockholm? The publisher changed it’s plans and suggested the Etnographic museum and I accepted as they at least have returned pieces from their collections.
-We have for a long time fought to have sami skeletons in return from Swedish museums, stolen from graves. But museums and researchers regard the pieces as their property.
Erika Drungyte sang in a sensitive way Lithuanian folk songs.
Argita Daudze, latvian translator (of a o P O Enquist) and Latvian ambassador in Prague, asked if we are honest enough to face our own history and it’s dark sides after the second world war. The history is very different from country to country and we have had both nazi and soviet totalitarianism. Germany has done a hard work since the second world war evaluating its history and condemning nazi crimes, but this is not the case with Soviet totalitarianism. According to recent news few Swedish young people know about the crimes of communism. Can we have a culture in common around the Baltic sea? The important thing is that we have a relationship towards history. Evaluation of one’s own history in countries around the Baltic sea is essential if we want to develop a common understanding of values. But sensitive issues in history should be faced with today’s eyes. History should be read like a book, when needed, not carried like a rucksack.
P O Enquist said that Eastern and Central Europe dominated the Eurovision Song Contest this year. It is of more importance than our declarations. What cultural centres do we have in Europe? We have London and Paris. But if you take the capitals around the Baltic sea they have a fantastic culture. And it is fantastic that these new countries can enter the European Community. (But there is no such thing as a European culture.)
After 12 years with Hitler it has been almost forbidden for Swedish intellectuals to be interested in the German language, Enquist said. Now it is changing, the clouds of Hitler have disappeared. And Enquist quoted Strindberg: “wipe out and proceed”. On the contrary we should see our roots and look back, but not only look back.
-When I wrote “Legionärerna” it was my version. The question is still very sore. We can have meetings and discuss it. But let us then go on!
Dautze replied that many exile Balts were upset over the book because of some factual mistakes. But the topic as such – the information about the sad events from 1946, extradiction of interned Baltic militaries in Sweden to the Stalinist Soviet Union and how it was handled by Swedish government and perceived by the Swedish public – was important. The book helped to keep Baltic topic alive and consequently helped the Swedish government to support the freedom fight in Baltic countries between 1989 and 1991. There the book was very important!
Mats Hellström pointed out that the Baltic states have had strong driving forces to define a culture of their own. The same for Finland after belonging to Sweden. So we live in a culture that has excluded others. And there are many different histories in conflict with one another. There is a large need for networks around the Baltic. The environmental concerns about the Baltic sea could also be a factor of importance. We want a living sea. He also told about Gdansk, carefully rebuilt in the old German Hansa style by the new inhabitants, who had been replaced by force from eastern Poland and Ukraina - as an example of a kind of universality of culture.
In the panel discussion between Hellström, Daudze och Enquist the distribution of artists’ works came up. Enquist said that we have a fight against the Anglo-Sachsian culture. Sweden produces a lot of films and Germany makes fantastic films but we see very little of one another’s films. We have a distribution problem. A prerequisite for understanding each other is that we have a cultural language in common.
Peter Curman, former chairman of the Swedish umbrella KLYS, said that we probably knew more about one another around the Baltic a hundred years ago than we do today. No Swedish bookstores have Baltic poetry. And the head of the Swedish Institute recommend new restaurants in New York in his digital newsletter but withdraws support for literary translations.
-I have an extra suitcase when I go to Mariehamn because of the bookstore there, Mats Hellström said. It sells books by Finnish-Swedish authors that we cannot buy in Sweden.
Ilja Foniakov invited the audience to Sankt Petersburg 2009 to a BWC meeting.
-You will be able to feel what Russian literature post soviet is and what our roots are. Also send poetry to us!
Mats Hellström, Argita Daudze and P O Enquist discuss cultural affinity in the Baltic Sea region. Photo: Bernt Lindberg
All participating countries and territories gave reports about the situation of their artists and/or organisations. In many reports were descriptions of bad income situation leading to bad or no social security, resistance from the authorities to create a taxation system suited for artists and a fight to be on speaking terms with the government. The loaded situation between Estonia and Russia also draw some attention.
The first country report came from Sweden. Karin Enberg said that Sweden is in a stage of transition, with a new cultural policy and policy for public service TV and radio discussed, proposed change in the county structure and demolition of the cultural infrastructure.
-Our umbrella KLYS is not afraid of change. We want to influence these revisions. But we are afraid of changes that damage the working conditions for artists and the cultural infrastructure.
-Danish artists have large problems with lowered remunerations and harder political steering of cultural money, said Franz Ernst from the Council of Danish Artists. We get questions from our minister of culture: “are you too many?” and “should we educate fewer artists?” The situation for narrow film in Denmark is not easy.
Jaan Elken, Estonian Association of Artists, made a comment on the moving of the monument of soviet soldiers killed in the war against the nazi forces.
-Now there is an attack against Estonian banks with millions of mails from Russia. It is a cyber war. If we cannot reach our money the country will very fast come close to a catastrophy. What cultural values can we share with Russia?
He then continued with the situation for artists. The artists’ 19 organisations get nothing from the state and exist today by support from the artists. Earlier the organisations got money from gambling, alcohol and tobacco, but not any more. They instead want state support for them.
The situation for the fine arts is not very good, that goes especially for self employed artists and especially visual artists.
-We now work for support for non commercial galleries, that artists own themselves.
Alexander Zhitinsky, writer and publisher from Sankt Petersburg, replied to Elkens speech:
-We prepared the Baltic cruise and then had meetings with Baltic artists. I always made a toast for their independence. Today Estonia can do what it wants on it’s own territory. But the Estonian government does not pay attention to the Russian minority. They are not altogether happy.
About the situation of Russian culture he said that it was bad in Soviet times and it is bad today. State support is replaced with the market. To whom are we selling out? Rich people? Zhitinsky said he does not want to sell out to anybody.
-In Russia it has become a norm that writers write in the name of others and for that they get a bad payment. As a publisher I try to change that situation. But books have to be sold and what we earn on selling them is going to production costs. At some instances we get money from the state.
-With Internet and the project “Another kind of book” it is still possible to publish books. Also Estonian writers are very welcome.
Finland has a new government, with a neo liberal agenda but no change in culture policies. Harri Wessman from the Finnish umbrella Forum Artis said that the artists do not pay any tax on scholarships. The consequence is that the artists have not payed for social security or pension and thereby have a very bad security.
-We have negotiated with our government. How can we get social security and pension? But we had so disparate opinions that we were thrown out from the working group. They saw us a entrepreneurs. The new government has promised to try to resolve the situation.
Jens Dalsgaard, LISA, Faeroe Islands, said that the Nordic cooperation has taken much power from the organization. It is a small country and they want to be recognized in the Nordic region. Cultural life is flowering, even the international exchange. But there are problems for artists who lose social rights and social security. Therfore LISA works with the taxation of artists.
Jessie Kleemann, artist and writer from Greenland, told the audience that Greenland has several artists organisations working but no artists council. The government has decided to have artists’ organisations as a counterpart.
-Greenland has just 56 000 inhabitants and still has money that we can apply for. Independent visual artists organise in order to have exhibition halls. We do not wait for the politicians – we start creating and we try to create a positive attitude. But we could need a cultural policy.
Dainis Grinvalds, Latvian Council of Creative Unions, said that cultural policy had gone backwards severely but the situation has changed. Now the artists are supported by the prime minister. A national library, a concert hall and a museum for contemporary art are being built. Many public archives are restored.
While theatres and orchestras are supported the situation for creative artists is problematic. There is no cultural law and the Culture Capital Foundation has just a small basis for paying stipends. But these could also be for large projects.
Agust Gudmundsson from the Icelandic umbrella BIL, founded in 1928 (!) reported that BIL is working to have the government concerned about the artists.
-And we have made some progress. The government takes us seriously and still we are in a position to be able to criticize. We have regular meetings every year with the cultural minister and the mayor of Reykjavik. It is a dialogue valuable for both parties. We also have similar contacts with the head of the state radio.
But the state has not raised their own salaries for artists for ten years. Social security is functioning – there is a social security fund that artists can join.
Gudmundsson had a suggestion. When he is directing a film he gets payment with the ordinary 30 percent taxation. But when he later gets intellectual property rights money it is the same rate. Why not instead 10 percent like on physical properties?
-When we suggested this we got the answer that the present system is the same in all Scandinavian countries. So why not change the taxation on income from intellectual property rights in all our countries?
The Lituanian umbrella organisation represents a majority of Lituanian artists, said Kornelijus Platelis. If an artist is a member of one of the member organisations he or she will be recognised as an artist (sometimes after a revision of the statutes) due to their new law on the Status of the Artists. Then the artist can sometimes get better economy after negotiations with local tax authorities. Ateliers are free from property taxation and artists also have free health care.
Norway is lacking an umbrella organisation. Randi Urdal from the Centre of Dance was very glad that Norway has the oil. It gives the country a high standard of living. A red-green government has the majority in the parliament and they have made a “Culture Promise”: 1 percent of the budget 2014 to culture. And this year we got 500 million NKr extra. They are also working on a cultural law about the situation of artists and about cultural infrastructure.
-That is good. There is a focus on culture and we have access to the politicians.
This was the country presentations. Are there any conclusions to make when you look at them? A general pattern is that artists have low income and that this in turn will give a bad social security and bad pension. Governments respond differently to this. Some have an neo liberal approach and want artists to be entrepreneurs with the same rules as for business in general. Some governments have a more understanding approach and try to find solutions. But this area indeed seems to be a cluster of problems that we have in common. Perhaps should we join forces in ECA and with interested parlamentarians in order to get EU rules?
The Nordic Council has made a radical change of the system for support to Nordic cultural cooperation. This new order has been enforced in spite of protests from artists’ organisations in the Nordic countries. Now we have this new organisation and we must do the best we can out of the situation. But what?
Jonas Forssell, Swedish composer, chaired the discussion about the new order in the Nordic Council of Ministers. He worked in Copenhagen when the new order appeared and was very angry when money disappeared. He pointed out that this is similar to a tendency also in the Swedish government to build new things but not support the culture that is functioning. Since the sixties we have had the arms length principle in the Nordic countries and we had a number of expert groups that all were closed. Why?
Riitta Heinämaa, advisor at the Nordic Council of Ministers in Copenhagen, replied that we are all on the same side and that the budget for culture has exactly the same volume as earlier. She could not comment on the reform process in itself but on the choices being made. Many working committees were closed and that as a consequence of a shift from sector thinking to cross-thematic programmes. The old administration was too expensive, now more money can go to arts. There are three new thematic programmes: mobility & residence, arts & culture and Nordic computer play. There are two funds, Nordic Culture Fund and Nordic Film and TV fund that remain.
-The work in the Nordic Council of Ministers is based on the same values as in the member countries. That implies values like arms length’s principle, freedom of speech and promotion of cultural diversity.
-Programmes are three or six years long but can be modified every year. The ministers develop the policy but they must have impulses and dialogue. Therefore the Nordic Cultural Forum is established. There are also expert groups for each programme; eight persons for computer play, eight for arts and culture, eight for mobility and three for residence. They make cultural/artistic/professional decisions and have an administration via Nordic Culture Point. The expert groups should have the main role in this, in responsibility for the programmes, in developing criteria for judgement, in evaluating the applications, in decisions about distribution of money between the frames, in developing the programmes and developing their own work.
-There is one expert group for mobility, one for networking. How are the members of these groups selected? Every member country and independent area could nominate. There are competence criteria for the respective groups, and also gender and representation from different artists’ fields are considered. These groups should be independent of the Nordic Council of Ministers. Pluralism is also secured by a mandatory time of three years and no re-election. Consensus is required for all decisions
Susin Lindblom, playwright from Sweden, said that controversial projects will have a difficulty to pass the demand for consensus. And Forssell said that this is not what KLYS regards as transparency. What dialogue was held before the decision about the computer play programme? This is a very special programme. Why is this so important?
Henämaa replied that these plays are language dependent and with a small market. The ministers saw a large need for it. And the Nordic cooperation should be regarded as a complement to national cultural policies.
Henrik Wenzel Andresen, head of the Danish “Kunststyrelsens Musikcenter” and chair of Nordmic, a Nordic music information centre, said that one goal was to save money for the arts but right now it does not look like more money. He informed about the Danish structure that had served as a model for the Nordic transformation.
In Denmark he found a parallel to the changes on the Nordic level. The ministry of culture wanted to merge the arts centres under it’s jurisdiction to one organisation. But the Music Centre survived and it now is distributing money from the Nordic Cultural Fund and other sources. (förstår inte riktigt varför han sa det här)
Peter Curman, KLYS, asked Riitta Heinämaa about what organisations were invited to the dialogue meetings. KLYS was for example not. She answered that the theme this year led to invitations to 60 persons from the literary field, writers, translators, publishers, book sellers and others. The chairman of one of the expert groups led the work in a working group that planned the first Nordic Cultural Forum and made the list of invitations.
-We wanted all kinds of knowledge.
A Danish artist, Nanna Gro Henningsen, with experience from both Sleipner and NIFCA, said that she is glad that the experts are being paid in the new system. In the old system they were not. But she thought that the new structure is a scandal and she also thought that the arms length´s principle is gone. And programmes last for three years. Will it not be hard for a new group to pick up the knowledge after a former group and continue it’s work? And about the arms length´s principle she said that the politicians have formulated something that the expert groups enforce. And the Culture Forum will appear with new people every time. Her personal opinion was that the politicians use the artists. We do not need market orientation, we need networks with stable anchoring points. Should the ministers take over now? The main question is influence from the field – who is choosing and who is evaluating?
Heinämaa answered that concerning the nominations every country can nominate four persons and they can do that according to their own, national cultural policy premises. This means that the procedures differ from country to country. In the Færoe islands LISA got the ball from the department that nominated along with the suggestions from LISA. In Sweden the state authority Konstnärsnämnden nominated. The ministers have the final decision.
Forssell concluded that it will be a national problem with representation of the artists’ organisations.
About the short programmes Riitta replied that a programme can be evaluated and continue after three years. There are no limits in time. In general the whole structure of Nordic cultural cooperation has been restructured, but not with the artists’ situations as a goal. The new model has only worked for some months and it is too early to make any conclusions. And in practice the artists’ organisations take part, there are many chairmen of artists’ organisations in the expert groups, together with producers and distributors.
-There have been many protests over the new order, said Elisabet Diedrichs, Council of Danish Artists. To the Culture Forum we will be invited to discuss an agenda that others have decided. It could be a good discussion. But there might be subjects that you have not considered.
Heinämaa said that there is a difficulty with the balance between flexibility and continuity. The old system was not flexible. They do not know what will be the balance between flexibility and continuity in the new system. That will be developed in a working process.
Finally Heinämaa got a question about the Baltic cooperation. Will it continue? She answered that in October there will be a decision about it, where the Baltic states join as equal partners.
So what will the future be like? Perhaps artists can gain some influence in the processes of the Nordic Council of Ministers. But the shift in working methods shows that the old dialogue between politicians and artists is gone.
There is a strong need for cultural cooperation in the Nordic/Baltic region. The national history differs and there are old and young conflicts. What is possible to do? How can we work for better understanding across national borders? Artists can have a key role in creating a mutual understanding and Visby could be a permanent centre for such meetings.
Rikke Helms told about the Danish Cultural Institute in Sankt Petersburg. It is not state owned but an independent institution with Danish state support. This institute in Sankt Petersburg is one of 11 filials, nine of them in Europe, in 2005 Beijing in China was opened, and Brazil is on it’s way. There is a democracy fund in Denmark where there is – now diminishing – money for cultural exchange. Each institute has only 1 MDkr to run the officies, so they have to seek money for all cultural activities.
The Sankt Petersburg institute has an office in the middle of town, with a flat for Danish artists.
Helms found the actual situation in Russia troublesome. The conflict with Estonia worried her. Antagonism is built up – therefore it is a good thing that the conflict is being discussed on this meeting. Meetings like this are important!
How is it to work in Russia? It is fascinating, but there is much bureaucracy. For example there is a new law that demands that NGOs are registered so that the authorities have control of the money coming into the country. Therefore the institute must be re-registered. There are visa problems in both directions and when the institute wants to donate a photo exhibition it is hard to come to an agreement because of the bureaucracy.
At the time the institute in Sankt Petersburg opened in 2003 they had to finance all activities by themselves. Generally Russian cultural organisations are very sparsely financed. Now there is a change, still more and more Russian festivals take part in the financing. On the other hand it has become very expensive to rent places for events.
-The most important thing is to have good local partners. And we have hundreds of success stories, because the Russian cultural workers are very devoted to their work!
Hindrances after bureaucracy are language barriers and differing education systems. When we have exchange between music schools we notice that they prepare young people for higher education already in young years and they have many competitions and festivals. But the different education systems do create a fruitful experience for both parties. The language barriers are also a difficulty. Many people, even young ones, still cannot speak English or German, although this is also changing with the new school reforms. And Helms referred to Erika Drungyte from Lituania who last night said “Thank heaven that we all speak so bad English”. And Rikke Helms quoted – as a joke from the Baltic Assembly at Bornholm ten years ago – that “this is the only thing that unites us”. But there are fantastic culture towns around the Baltic sea and good conditions for cooperation.
Mats Hellström said that the new Baltic Sea Region can be seen as a child of globalisation. This region is now more open than many other in the world with sudden unexpected creative meetings between the old and mature and the young and hungry. In medieval times cultural traits had quick mobility in the Baltic Sea region. Altar pieces were mass produced and spread very fast. And so was the architecture of "Backstein Gothic" (brick churches) all around the Sea. Later came new styles from Holland and France. It is interesting how the baroque was adapted and simplified in the Nordic countries - Scandinavian light! Today we have in common in the Baltic Sea region crafts and design where things of daily use should be beautiful.
In Germany, where Hellström has been a Swedish ambassador, many Nordic writers are popular and publishers look for a young Peter Høegh or Marianne Fredriksson. Profane choir music is also in common for the Nordic-Baltic region.
Inger Harlevi talked about Gotland as a meeting place that belongs to everybody. When the iron curtain fell the Baltic has become an open sea. Now there are three international cultural centres in Visby, for writers/translators, for composers and for visual artists. Here are discussions between many nationalities without any dictionaries.
-Now we discuss with Kulturrådet (a state authority for culture) about cultural cooperation with all countries around the Baltic sea. They should all have focal points and Gotland should work as a centre. Then we could also have difficult discussions on conflicting themes, for instance between Russia and Estonia. We had a comparison between school books in the countries in former Yugoslavia to explore what the books said about the neighbours. The versions differed very much. We also had a seminar between Turk and Greek Cypriot cultural workers before e-mail became a way of communicating.
Daudze said that the Baltic states are young states. They could see Gotland as “The freedom island” and this sensitivity is still valid. In Russia it was the environment question that opened up the discussion about the Baltic sea. Perhaps the environmental question will be the one that will be important here.
In the following discussion Mats Hellström suggested that historians from our countries should meet and compare history books.
Peter Curman said that the cruise around the Baltic sea would not have been possible without Russia. On board there were hard discussions and aggressions. But it was the first meeting between these people. And the poison was in the language, and we wanted to get away from political clichés, not having artists represent their country. Harlevi agreed. The situation is similar today. But culture can take the lead and Russia must be involved on equal terms. Rikke Helms said that they have had good cooperation between Russia and Latvia in Sankt Petersburg, the Russian cultural capital.
Ramon Anthin, director of Visby International Centre for Composers, said that the Baltic as an entity is history today. The centre is a global organisation. People from several countries live here at the same time. They want to meet other artists from all over the world.
Harlevi stressed the regional perspective. It is about common history and an own identity. When we protect our cultural heritage the aim is to be able to go back to the roots, just to understand who we are and feel safe in our own culture. We have ultra right wing parties in many of our countries and we must act for peace immediately. And we cannot live around a sea so destroyed as last summer. The environment question is important. She would also like to see better communications between Gotland and the Baltic states, as a means for better relations.
As we can see there are many examples of culture spreading around the Baltic sea but also of conflicts. There seems to be interest from many parties for closer cooperation, to understand one another better and get a bit aquainted with one another’s culture. This of course must work in many ways but an established centre in Visby could make it easier for artists to meet more regularly.
Against a background of the cultural situation in the region and the conditions for artists – how does cultural policy function? Do we have any visions about a new and better policy?
Susin Lindblom, director Swedish Playwrights Union, started the discussion by saying that we as artists today must fight for our situation. And with new distribution forms it is necessary with a good cultural policy.
Carl Tham, former Swedish minister of education, gave a picture of the Nordic cultural policy from a historical view. The countries have a very different background. Sweden and Denmark have been independent for many hundred years while Norway, Finland, and Iceland are relatively young states. In Sweden and Denmark art was part of the court, it legitimated the bourgeoisie. In Denmark this gave a strong basis for arts but in Sweden the bourgeoisie was weaker and could not create the same basis for culture. In Norway and Finland culture was strongly connected to the creation of a national identity.
During the thirties the labour movement became stronger and culture was regarded as part of the welfare society. But in the Nordic countries the labour movement did not try to change the content of culture, like in the Soviet union where they tried to create new arts. In Sweden art should be available for everybody and voluntary educational organisations were important. But there was no cultural perspective, and accordingly no fight with the conservative in the cultural field. In the cultural law of 1974 the thoughts were not new. More money to the cultural field should a o counteract “the negative effects of the market on culture”.
After world war II there was a Swedish debate where artists had to choose, should they be on the side of the people and thereby undermine their own situation or should there be a quality dimension and difference between high and low arts?
-Then came the market attac, influenced by Margret Thatcher. Everything should be left over to the market. But even the most radical market supporters did not dare to enforce such a programme. Still the commercial forces are the worst threat. There is an instrumental view – culture is good for economy but not good for culture itself. Cultural policy is more of a budget question than ideology. Sweden has very few politicians with a personal engagement in arts and the same goes for business life in Sweden.
Jesper Söderström, director for the Swedish Writers Fund, described how the library remuneration system for authors in Sweden works. It is built on the principle of free lending of books and of the need for income for authors. The library that has bought a book has the right to lend it, according to Swedish copyright legislation. That may be in accordance with a EU Directive from 1992 but the European Commission is not satisfied.
In September 2002 the Commission said that many member countries do not fulfil the requirements of the Directive. For instance the Commission does not like the Nordic countries’ “eligibility criteria”, - which turns the remuneration into an unfair support scheme for the authors in the own country. Thus they disturb a functioning internal market, claims the Commission. In March 2005 the Swedish government answered that they regard this as a cultural policy question and not an IPR question. The commission has not answered but according to EU logics they will continue, they regard this as something that is a barrier to trade.
-We will rather have a weaker intellectual property right but keep the lending right.
EFTA has in the same way questioned the lending rights in Iceland and Norway. Finland has accepted the EU demands.
-It will be very expensive if the Nordic countries must pay also foreign authors.
Curman said that in the UNESCO convention ratified by 64 countries it is said that every country should have the right to have cultural policy of their own and that every country should implement the convention. That goes also for the EU. And the library remuneration is not IPR money. There is no logic. Söderström agreed but the commission has another view. They are afraid that the Nordic countries shuld have a bad influence on the new member states. Tham said that many conventions are adopted but they don’t mean anything. Elisabeth Diedrichs from the Council of Danish Artists said that there are different directorates involved and they do not cooperate very well.
–I am from Absurdistan, said Simon Pellar, Czech translator and vice president of the European Council of Artists, ECA. Every community in our country has a library, in total we have 5000 public libraries and also a PRR system, grounded in Nordic principles. But our president, Vaclav Claus, believes that the market will fix everything.
In the old days a book could be sold in 100 000 copies in an afternoon, now we can be glad if the total is 2000 copies.
Pellar also said that this is the second time that the EU does not give ECA any money. Yet we must go on and that is what ECA tries to. There are contacts with Turkey about authors and their human rights, with Ireland about changes in their taxation system, with Spain about the situation for flamenco dancers and there is work for the mobility of artists in Europe.
-We do the work of EU and should have economic compensation for that.
In most of our countries there is, in other words, a threat from market interests on national cultural policy, exemplified here by the Commission’ s attempt to interfere with the Nordic library remuneration system. That happens in spite of the UNESCO convention on cultural diversity. There is also a threat from forces who want to use culture as a tool for other purposes.
The birth of the UNESCO convention on cultural diversity is a success story. But commercial and political counterforces are strong. The convention will not help unless we make use of it.
Peter Curman talked about the history of the convention on the protection and promotion of the diversity of cultural expressions. In 1998 KLYS arranged a global meeting in Stockholm for artists parallel to a ministerial meeting with about 200 ministers. Both meetings departed from the UNESCO report “Our creative diversity”. Our meeting had “culture as a tool in areas of conflict” as one of the themes. The Canadians took part. Their big neighbour tried to take over for instance their market for magazines.
-We wanted to make something similar to Local Agenda 21 which said that every local community should have an environmental plan. We wanted to have a similar plan for culture.
UNESCO adopted “The Stockholm Action Plan” and these two meetings were the start of the two networks INCD and INCP. They began to meet and had a mutual exchange of information.
-And now it is ratified by 64 countries! It gives something to refer to, Peter Curman said. When the EU continues to deny ECA money – our money that we have the right to – we should not let the politicians go on and pretend to support cultural life. This is a signal of war.
Chris Torch works with international projects at Intercult in Stockholm and is also vice president of European Fourm for Arts and Heritage (EFAH). He said that a number of networks have lost their EU structural money this year. The Executive Agency of the Directorate for Education and Culture did not use the experts in any discussion group, to save time. The names of the experts are not known. No evaluation of earlier work by the oragisations was presented. EFAH received money but is now organising the criticism among cultural organisations against EU’s way of handling this.
He thought that the new UNESCO convention could be used in this case. But he did not share Peter Curman’s view that Swedish cultural policy should be so much better than other national policies. It would be a good thing to coordinate it with other European countries. Sweden is very passive when it comes to international cultural policy. Sweden must be present in Brussels and fight for libraries and literature. Sweden has just one substitute in the cultural committee of the EU parliament.
When we discuss cultural diversity Torch wanted to keep apart three dimensions.
1. Intercontinental dialogue. (This is a responsibility for the Swedish Aid agency SIDA. The Swedish Institute tends towards a PR bureau to place Sweden on the map – in spite of the fact that it is already there).
2. A transnational dialogue. How to encourage?
3. Intercommunity dialogue. There are millions of refugees, people with experience in several cultures. Migration changes the world and we must deal with that on an urban level.
From Åland came the poet Sanna Tahvanainen. She was afraid of isolation when she moved to Åland. But it has a window open towards both Helsinki and Stockholm so there will always be cross draught. She make monthly journeys to both cities, they lack communication with one another. Finnish literature in Swedish language is not sold in Stockholm. The door is closed.
-I have a three double identity.
And she invited the audience to the literary days of Mariehamn where literature lovers from all around the Baltic can come.
Jessie Kleemann said that there are several different cultures on Greenland, plus the Danish. The culture goes back to the year of 1721. In daily life there is diversity. When you meet people from Alaska, Sweden, Canada and so forth it is exciting, we get a perspective on ourselves.
-The UNESCO convention is needed. We need it to defend our fragile diversity against culture we do not need. But we are not defined as a native people. For ten years we had a process going on in the United Nations. They finally decided that we are not a people of our own. How can they claim that we are not a people, not knowing about our culture or our history? I am a Dane! How can we take part in world discussions when we are not a people?
Peter Curman responded that we must cooperate departing from our own identity. He was a bit afraid that other forces decide over us too much. To that Chris Torch said that we must give up something if we should be able to meet other cultures.
Bernt Lindberg from KLYS said that one of the reasons why the process with the UNESCO convention started was a globally spread reaction against Anglo-American content in TV and other media and to protect distribution channels.
To sum up we need the UNESCO convention on cultural diversity. We need it to defend our national cultures and minority cultures. And we need distribution channels not totally filled with mainstream products from the global media industry. Maybe the convention is of some use even there. But a convention in itself could be adopted and forgotten if no one defends it and uses it as a tool. That ought to be the task for artists and artists’ organisations.
As cultural policy is eroding in several of the Nordic countries and self governing areas we must find ways to strengthen our positions. Are the ideas in Norway something to consider? There is a need for cooperation on these matters.
According to Trond Okkelmo from the Association for Norwegian Theatres and Orchestras, his organisation is a way of cooperation on the stage area when they lack an umbrella organisation for artists.
-Much is called culture today, Okkelmo said. That could be right but people spend more and more time on sheer entertainment. Politicians call that culture, that will give better figures. If you see a spectrum from entertainment to “deep culture”, classical music etc, you can see that the latter is lasting longer within us. But people are less interested in going deep into culture.
-Our cultural minister Trond Giske started a campaign for the arts, founded on an analysis from the old government. But the real interest will be visible when it comes to money. So far our government has delivered! The cultural minister says that culture is as important as health care and industry. Culture should be so integrated in society that it is obvious. Help me to convince also the rest of the government!
About the suggested law Okkelmo said that Sweden, Denmark and Finland have cultural laws. In Denmark it is a substantial law. In Sweden very little is regulated in the law. Finland has complex and detailed rules. In Norway we have several laws and rules, for example to regulate the relations between the government and the regions. Not much is done based on the laws.
-Important is from where money comes. In my organisation we are afraid of the regions. Their money cannot be used for arts in the same way as state money.
On the 13th of April the Norwegian law was adopted by the parliament. It says that the citizens should have access to culture. But today there is no suggestion to have culture in the constitution. Maybe the government will come with such a suggestion.
-The UNESCO convention is in the law and we have implemented it better than the EU. The sami should be able to develop language and culture.
-Culture is often discussed as an industry and a commodity. Therefore culture needs more protection, something it could get if it was in the constitution. Then it would be more difficult for the WTO or EU to overrun us.
A working group was elected for preparation of a similar Baltic-Nordic meeting in two years. Other questions were forwarded to the national umbrella organisations for further work.