The present Laws on Visual Arts encompass the following institutions and issues:
- the Academy Council (adviser for the state in visual arts) (Bekendtgørelse om Det Kongelige Akademi for de Skønne Kunster, nr. 306 of 18 May 1999);
- Departemental Order on Visual Arts (Bekendtgørelse af lov om billedkunst, nr. 1004 af 29 November 2003. Bekendtgørelse om betaling af udstillingsvederlag til bildende kunstnere for udlån af egne værker til visse kunstudstillinger, nr. 470 of 23 May 2006);
- Charlottenborg Exibition Hall (Bekendtgørelse for Charlottenborg Udstillingsbygning, nr. 1476 of 14 December 2005);
- the Danish Arts Council (Lov om Kunstrådet, nr. 230 af 2 April 2003); ; Bekendtgørelse af lov om Statens Kunstråd, LBK nr. 79 14 January 2011);
- the Danish Arts Foundation (Bekendtgørelse om fordeling af de af Statens Kunstfond erhvervede kunstværker, nr. 293 of 4 May 1988., Bekendtgørelse om Statens Kunstfond m.v. nr. 228 of 19 March 1998. Bekendtgørelse af lov om Statens Kunstfond, nr. 1002 of 29 November 2003); and
- implementation of the Local Government Reform (Lov om ændring af en række love på kulturområdet (Udmøntning af kommunalreformen på kulturområdet, Lov nr. 563 af 24 June 2005).
Danish contemporary art seems to have strengthened its national and international status. This is commonly agreed upon among gallery owners, heads of cultural institutions, administrators within the government arts departments, as well as among artists and researchers of cultural policy.
There is no data detailing the exact sales for galleries. Estimations from the Copenhagen Business School (CBS) research project “Creative Encounter”, which explores the relationship between contemporary art and economic theory, confirm a boom in the contemporary art world (see http://www.cbs.dk).
But according to experts in the cultural field, the Danish boom in contemporary art production and circulation might also have a negative side: What will happen to the quality of art in the longer term? Is there a risk that the boom in contemporary art might lead young artists to chase commercial success, disregarding the skills of their trade and the serious existential search for new content and forms of expression? Will the art schools be robbed of talent that has yet to mature? Will the field of contemporary art be colonised with an avant-garde conformity which will be shown to be irrelevant in just a few years?
Another negative side of adhering overtly to the laws of the market relates to the fact that in economic booms, access to private funds is much easier than in times of recession. During the current economic climate, major private funds that traditionally support culture and the arts, such as the Carlsberg Foundation, have decreased their funding within the realm of art and culture.
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