2. Current cultural affairs
Norway
Last update: February, 2024
Norwegian cultural policy has been very stable over the last 20-30 years despite changing governments. Generally, there has been few debates and few major changes in the cultural budget. The latest white paper on culture draw a special attention to cultural expressions and freedom of speech. This is emphasised in the introduction:
Art and culture are expressions that build society, and cultural policy must be based on freedom of speech and tolerance. The cultural sector and civil society are prerequisites for an educated and enlightened public, and thus an investment in democracy.
Compared to the last white paper on cultural policy (2003), where the main goals were public access to culture of high-quality art and culture the recent white paper describes a more fundamental task for the culture sector, namely to safeguard democracy. This change has also a juridical backdrop. In 2004, the paragraph on press freedom in the Norwegian constitution was changed from “There should be freedom of press” into “There should be freedom of expression”. The paragraph was further expanded with the governmental responsibility of providing the fundament for an “open and informed public discourse”. The paragraph underlined the government’s responsibility to ensure a framework for production and distribution of expressions.
Regionalisation of culture has also been a topic within the last years. A regional reform has decreased the numbers of municipalities from 428 to 356 and the number of regions from 19 to 11. One aim of the reform was to transfer state responsibility down to regional and local governments, also within the culture sector. This led to several debates. Currently (2022) few changes in responsibility have been made.
Since 2000, there has been a major establishment of new infrastructure for culture, both in Oslo and elsewhere in the country. In several cities, large cultural centres, and concert hall (kulturhus) has been built. Within the last two years, the new National Museum (of art) and the Much Museum moved into monumental new buildings in Oslo.
A rather small change that has caused huge changes in the culture budget is a funding change for Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation (NRK) where license payment has been exchanged with tax payment. The change has not caused much public debate and the budget of NRK has not change considerable. However, expenses for NRK are now visible in the state budget for media.
Last update: February, 2024
As mentioned in chapter 4.1.1, there are two articles in the Norwegian Constitution related to culture: Firstly, Article 100 which guarantees freedom of expression, and Secondly, Article 108 which deals with the responsibilities vis-à-vis the Sami people.
In addition, the Act relating to the responsibility of public authorities for cultural activities (Kulturlova LOV-2007-06-29-89) states that:
The state shall promote and facilitate a wide range of cultural activities throughout the country through legal, financial, organizational, informational and other relevant means and measures.
The state must design tools and implement measures to promote and protect a diversity of cultural expressions in accordance with international rights and obligations.
Recently, a Norwegian Official Report on the Freedom of Expression1 stated that “In Norway, freedom of expression for artists is well protected. Surveys have confirmed that artists also believe this to be the case”. However, the report expressed a concern for future technological developments in the media sector as well as a concern for a low level of acceptance for critical discussion within artistic communities who makes decisions based on the arms-length principle.
1 https://www.regjeringen.no/en/dokumenter/nou-2022-9/id2924020/
Last update: February, 2024
As stated in chapter 2.2, the recent Norwegian Official Report on the Freedom of Expression1 stated that freedom of expression for artists is well protected in Norway and that artists themselves also agree on this. Studies have also shown that artistic directors in Norwegian art organisation benefit from high artistic autonomy2.
Norwegian cultural policy has also included an artist policy where artists’ labour conditions have been considered a matter for the policy making. Due to that, the Norwegian ministry of culture has conducted regular studies og the working- and income situation of artists and provided cultural policy measures for this. This policy includes grants to artists and a practice of permanently employed artists in several public art institutions. A recent White paper from the Ministry of Culture also address this issue3.
1 https://www.regjeringen.no/en/dokumenter/nou-2022-9/id2924020/
2 Bård Kleppe (2018) The autonomous world reversed: comparing liberal policy and autonomy in the performing arts, International Journal of Cultural Policy, 24:3, 387-405, DOI: 10.1080/10286632.2016.1184659
3 https://www.regjeringen.no/no/dokumenter/meld.-st.-22-20222023/id2983542/
Last update: February, 2024
The use of digital media is relatively high among Norwegians and high-speed internet connections are available all around the country. According to Statistics Norway, 98% of all Norwegians had access to the Internet at home and 96% of all Norwegians have access to a smartphone in 2021.
Since 2010, there has been a large increase in streaming of music. According to Statistics Norway, more 52 % of the population uses video-services such as YouTube during the last 24 hours.
Policy strategies to promote the implementation of new technologies in the field of art range from the general policies of utilising the potential of information technologies in public administration to specific support schemes for artistic work.
In several fields of cultural policy, support schemes are now being evaluated and restructured aiming to adopt new technologies. This includes both support for music, film, literature and media. The overall aim of new support schemes is to make them independent of format.
One such development is the inclusion of e-books in the purchasing scheme for literature. There is also an ongoing debate on whether e-books shall benefit from an exemptions from outgoing VAT.
Both in museums and archives there has been conducted several large projects on digitalization. The (Norwegian) Digital Archives and Digital Museum are examples of such.
Last update: February, 2024
In the years before and ahead of the millennium, several programs emphasising multiculturalism within the arts was established. Arts Council e.g. established the program Mosaikk to encourage artists of ethnical background.
The government includes terms of cultural diversity aspects when allocating grants to cultural institutions. For instance, The Ministry stresses that cultural diversity should not develop into a new sector of culture. This applies to institutions and organisations to integrate diversity perspectives into their ordinary activities. Thus, in addition to goals and measures of their activities in 2008, they should also prepare long-term strategies for the inclusion of diversity aspects in these activities.
In the museum sector, multiculturalism was also emphasized. In a 1999 Parliament report concerning libraries, archives and museums, the Norwegian government stated that: "Museums will be an arena where people can develop positive attitudes to their own and other cultural roots." Thus, multi-culturality was emphasised as an important future issue for museums as well. During the last few years, several museums have worked extensively with multicultural projects and a separate network for such projects has been established.
In recent years, there has been few such programs. This may be due the emphasis recently put on the autonomy of the arts. An important part of this included the removal of guidelines that promoted multiculturalism in the funding agreements of national cultural organisations. Artists with immigrant background has also expressed dissatisfaction with multiculturalist programs. They feel stigmatized when receiving support based on their ethnical background, not their artistic skills.
Last update: February, 2024
There are few or no specific programmes for intercultural Norwegian art education. Nevertheless, intercultural education is integrated into arts education in primary school, higher education and in voluntary art schools.
Last update: February, 2024
The recent White paper on media states that:
the government must facilitate freedom of speech, press freedom and freedom of information, good news production throughout the country and a broad and open public conversation in digital media. Media policy must stimulate innovation and new creation and at the same time preserve the traditions and basic values of the free press in a new era. The government wants media support that is predictable and unbureaucratic, having the greatest possible distance from political authorities.
Newspapers
There are approximately 230 newspapers in Norway with a total circulation of 2,5 million (2021) including both digital and analogue paper (1,4 million are analogue).
In the beginning of the twenties century, both the circulation, the number of readers, the number of subscribers and the income of printed media dropped significantly in Norway. However, the latter years this trend has turned and both the circulation, the media economy and the numbers of subscribers have been steasy. However, there has been a large change in subscription from analogue to digital. In 2014, 9% of the Norwegian population subscribed to a payment service for digital newspapers, in 2021 this share has increased to 36%1.
Politically, there is a broad consensus in Norway that a diversified press is a democratic asset. In the 1950s, the rising costs of newspaper production led to the demise of many newspapers. In 1966, the press organisations appealed to the authorities for economic support in order to be able to maintain a wide variety of newspapers, and thus to ensure the democratic exchange of opinions. Three years later a state subsidy scheme was established for the daily newspapers. Today, the press support is provided by the Ministry of Culture administrated by the Norwegian Media Authority and regulated through a special juridical regulation. Both printed and digital press may receive support. In 2021 newspapers received a total amount of NOK 388 million. In addition to this, newspapers also receive indirect support through exemptions from outgoing VAT.
Broadcasting
The Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation (NRK) was established by the Parliament in 1933. The Corporation was a state monopoly financed by public licensing fees. The first decades NRK just distributed radio signals, but in 1960 the first TV channel was opened. In 1996, the NRK became a joint stock company with the state as the sole owner. Advertising is still prohibited in the NRK, but a limited number of sponsored programmes have been allowed. Parties other than the NRK must hold a licence in order to engage in broadcasting. Until 2020, NRK was financed by a mandatory annual license fee payable by anyone who owns or uses a TV or a device capable of receiving TV broadcasts. From the start of 2020, NRK funding is an item in the national budget and the costs are covered through taxation for each individual liable for income taxes in Norway
Until the beginning of the 1980s, media policy was largely concerned with NRK. However, during that decade, media policy was liberalised and the way was paved for private broadcasting financed by advertising. The broadcasting of satellite television through the cable network led to a greater need for regulation and administration. The Ministry of Culture issues licences for national and local broadcasting. In 1991, the Ministry established a department of Media Policy and Copyright to be responsible for broadcasting legislation, copyright issues, press subsidies and films. Today, several administrative responsibilities in the media sector are delegated to the Norwegian Media Authority.
The "public service" ideology has been central to media policy in Norway. The public service duties of the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation are manifested in its statutes. However, the licences granted to the television channel TV 2 and the radio station P4 in the early 1990s, as well as the radio station Radio Norge in 2004 established channels with dual objectives. As privately owned entities, they were to generate the greatest possible profits for their owners, while the frameworks of the licences imposed mandatory public service broadcasting obligations on them.
Today, the commercial TV 2 has an agreement with the government that ensures cable broadcasting of the channel. In turn, TV 2 has obligations concerning the location of their headquarters and news production, and content obligations such as 50% of programming being in Norwegian. The current agreement expires by the end of 2016, and a new agreement has been announced for 2017-2019. In the new agreement, most of the content obligations have been eliminated. The announced agreement is open for all applicants.
Digital media
In recent years (from 2008), there has been a considerable development of optical fibre and other high-speed internet and television supplies, as well as a full digitalisation of the TV signals. This has led to an increase in public access to different TV channels.
Access and the use of the Internet have also increased. Today (2021), 98,9% of all Norwegians have access to the Internet at home2.
The recent White paper on media states that:
the government must facilitate freedom of speech, press freedom and freedom of information, good news production throughout the country and a broad and open public conversation in digital media. Media policy must stimulate innovation and new creation and at the same time preserve the traditions and basic values of the free press in a new era. The government wants media support that is predictable and unbureaucratic, having the greatest possible distance from political authorities.
1All data from MediaNorway (http://medienorge.uib.no/english/)
2https://data.oecd.org/ict/internet-access.htm
Last update: February, 2024
The official languages of Norway are Norwegian with two forms, Bokmål and Nynorsk. Additionally, Sami is recognized as an official language in certain municipalities. The two forms of Norwegian are products of two different policies in the process of establishing a language that could support an independent Norwegian nation after the secession from Denmark in 1814. Bokmål developed by using the Danish written language as a basis and adapting it for Norway according to the norms of urban upper-class speech, while Nynorsk developed on the basis of a comparative study of Norwegian dialects of the (self-taught) linguist Ivar Aasen (1813-1896). Nynorsk received official recognition through a parliamentary resolution in 1885. The two forms of Norwegian are quite close, and easily understood by Norwegians.
There are 356 municipalities in Norway (2022). A total of 89 of these have chosen Nynorsk as their official language and approximately 117 municipalities have opted for Bokmål, while the rest are "neutral". Neutrality, however, usually means that Bokmål is the chosen form. Today 10-15% of the population use Nynorsk.
The main goal of the linguistic policy has been to protect and strengthen the two forms of the Norwegian language so that both Bokmål and Nynorsk can survive as equally important languages.
In a 2008 Report on Language Issues to the Parliament, the Norwegian government states that the Norwegian language has decreased its relative position in the Norwegian society, particularly in relation to the Anglo-American linguistic influence. This is considered to be a big problem because national languages are one of the most important forms of cultural expression. Thus, as a cultural nation, the Norwegian government has an obligation to maintain and develop Norwegian as a language for future generations. The overall goal of the linguistic policy must be to safeguard the Norwegian language's position as a full, community-supported language in Norway.
More than 95% of the Norwegian population use one of the Norwegian forms as their primary language, with the Sami languages (North Sami, Lule Sami and South Sami) being the most important national minority languages. Responsibility for the Sami language is seen as an important part of Norwegian cultural policy. Some operational tasks are allocated to the Sami parliament (Sametinget / Sàmediggi), including a Sami language council. The Act on Sami requires that public information that is particularly relevant to the Sami people is translated into Sami (i.e. laws and regulations, promulgations and forms).
Norway has signed the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages, and has accepted certain obligations in respect to the minority languages in Norway. The Charter covers the languages of Sami, Kven, Romanes and Romani. After a request from the European Council, Norway clarified the status of Kvensk in 2005, which is now recognised as a language in its own right and not as a dialect of Finnish.
The plural language situation in Norway is manifested in the Place Names Act. The Act provides rules for the use of multilingual place names in the multilingual parts of the country. Place names in the areas where Sami and Kvensk are spoken must generally be used by public authorities on maps, signposts, registers, etc. Porsanger, for example, is a municipality in the northern part of Norway that has three official names, Porsanger (Norwegian), Porsáŋgu (Sami) and Porsanki (Kvensk).
The increase in immigration has led to a growth in the number of pupils who speak minority languages, and there is broad political consensus that schools should cater to the needs of these minorities to help enable them to pursue an education and a career. Under the auspices of the Nordic Council of Ministers, a Nordic collaboration has been established for the education of pupils who speak minority languages.
Last update: February, 2024
Statistics on participation by men and women in various cultural activities demonstrate no radical differences in their use of culture and media. However, the percentage of men and women do vary between different types of cultural activities. While museums, concerts of popular music and sports events attract men to a greater extent than women, cinema, dance / ballet, theatre / musicals, art exhibitions, public libraries and concerts of classical music attract more women than men.
The latest survey on the economic situation of Norwegian artists (2015) shows that there is a small preponderance of female artists (52% / 48%). This has changed since 2006 when there was a certain male dominance. Some art forms are dominated by men (authors, dramatists, film workers, musicians and composers), while others have a predominance of women (artisans, stage directors and dancers).
A survey completed in 2014-16 on employees in state funded culture institutions in the Nordic countries shows that 55 % of the employees and 54 % of the managers are women Compared to other sectors of Norwegian society (e.g. research, public administration, media and the business sector), this percentage is relatively high1.
1https://kulturanalys.se/publikation/jamstalld-kultur/
Last update: February, 2024
Norway has ratified the Convention on the rights of persons with disabilities, where article 30 deals with the right to participate in culture life. A recent white paper from the Ministry of Culture and Equality addresses this issue1. Here they emphasize program such as Dissimilis, A cultural organization for intellectually disabled musicians, actors and dancers which organises more than 90 groups and 700 artists.
Another important measure is companion cards. The Ministry of Culture and Equality places a requirement on grant recipients that everyone with a companion card who buys a regular price ticket receives a free companion card for their companion.
Nevertheless, the paper also stresses that there remain several obstacles for disabled persons when attending a culture event.
1 https://www.regjeringen.no/no/dokumenter/meld.-st.-8-20222023/id2945431/?ch=4#kap12
Last update: February, 2024
In Norway, the Sami are recognised as an indigenous people and Jews, Kvens (people of Finnish descent living in the North), Roma (Gypsies), the Romani People and Skogfins (people of Finnish descent living in the southeastern part of the country) are recognised as national minorities. The overall aim of the Norwegian government, regarding both the Sami and the national minorities, is to develop and complete a policy in accordance with the international duties of Norway and the duties found in the Norwegian laws and existing political resolutions.
The majority of the Sami people (about two-thirds, 40 000 people) live in Norway. The basis of the Norwegian government's Sami policy is found in the Constitution and the Act on the Sami People. In addition, Norway has ratified the Indigenous and Tribal Peoples Convention (no. 169). The overall aim of the Norwegian government's Sami policy is to facilitate the safeguarding of the Sami people to help them develop and maintain their own language, culture and social life. The Sami people have their own parliament – Sàmediggi – which is responsible for Sami issues, and is an independent institution elected by the Sami. The Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation (NRK) has a special department – Sami Radio – that produces and broadcasts programmes in Sami on radio and television. Some of the municipalities in the northern part of the country are defined as an administrative area for the Sami language.
From an educational context, it is maintained that the culture and traditions of the Sami community are a part of the common Norwegian and Nordic culture and are included in both the national curriculum and the special Sami curriculum. In the areas defined as Sami districts, and according to specific criteria elsewhere in Norway, education is provided in accordance with the special Sami curriculum. For Sami pupils, this education is intended to build a sense of security in relation to the pupils' own culture and to develop Sami language and identity, as well as equipping Sami pupils to take an active role in the community and enabling them to acquire an education at all levels. State support is provided for the development of textbooks written in the Sami language.
To safeguard the rights of cultural minorities, Norway has ratified the Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities with the Council of Europe. In the last white paper on cultural minorities (2000), the government clarified that it would work for a society that facilitates cultural minorities to express, maintain and develop their identity, both in their own minority group and when interacting with the rest of society. While earlier assimilation policies have led to the encroachment of cultural minorities, not least the Romanis, the government apologised in the white paper for these injustices. The governmental initiatives for national minorities have focused on organisational development, economic support for NGOs representing national minorities and economic support for establishing and developing centres for national minorities. Newspapers and periodicals in Sami and other minority languages receive some economic support from the government through various schemes.
In addition to the national minorities, Norway today is characterized by a wide cultural diversity. According to Statistics Norway, the immigrant population make up approximately 18 percent of the population in Norway in 2022. The number includes immigrants and children born in Norway to two immigrant parents. The five largest immigrant groups in Norway are in turn Polish, Lithuanian, Somali, and Pakistani. The general inclusion policy in Norway is closely connected to the general social-democratic welfare policy.
Last update: February, 2024
To democratise culture has been a central aim of Norwegian cultural policy as long as the public authorities have had an active cultural policy. The ambition has been to ensure that the socio-economic background or geographical place of residence is no obstacle to participation in cultural activities. Similar to many other countries, the strategy for culture and social cohesion in Norway changed from the "democratisation of culture" to "cultural democracy" during the 1970s. Today, it is more accurate to describe the strategy as a combination of the two.
Despite such policy, studies shows that socio-economic background still is crucial to cultural consumption in Norway1.
1 Mangset, Per, 2012. Demokratisering av kulturen? Om sosial ulikhet i kulturbruk og -deltakelse Bø: Telemarksforsking.
Last update: February, 2024
The cultural sector in Norway is actively working towards becoming more climate and environment friendly. However, this transformation is occurring within the framework of 'business as usual'. While there is a greening of the sector, most operations and management continue more or less as before.
In Norway, the government has embraced Agenda 2030 by outlining a National Action Plan published as a White Paper, St. Meld. nr. 40 Mål med mening – Norges handlingsplan for å nå bærekraftsmålene innen 2030 (Goals with Purpose. Norway's Action Plan for Achieving the Sustainable Development Goals by 2030) (2020–2021). Both the White Paper and the accompanying guidance document "Nasjonale forventninger til regional og kommunal planlegging" (National Expectations for Regional and Municipal Planning) (Ministry of Local Government and Modernisation, 2019) emphasize that the 17 SDGs should be the primary policy focus in Norway until 2030. The SDGs should form the basis for all societal and spatial planning. In these policy documents, counties and municipalities are defined as key actors in realizing sustainable societal development and the SDGs in Norway. In other words, much has been entrusted to local and regional authorities. Generally speaking, we can say that both local, regional and national authorities have used soft means to nudge the actors to opt for more sustainable operations. Typically, cultural institutions are encouraged to choose electronic power, more climate friendly transport, more climate friendly building materials, through public funding. Another strategy seems to have been sharing knowledge and experience through seminars and conferences.
The impact on cultural policy is both implicit and explicit. The demand for sustainable transformation has made cultural policy more instrumental, simultaneously providing the sector with a new basis for legitimacy. We observe that all parts of the sector are adopting this legitimacy basis. "Culture for culture's sake" is replaced by "culture for the sake of sustainability".
The shift towards more climate-friendly practices stems primarily from initiatives within the practice field and has not been politically driven. The development has been bottom up in most areas. Established cultural actors are hiring new employees with expertise in this area, and entirely new actors are entering the sector specializing in the green transition. Civil society has been an important driver for change, whereas the public has been more reluctant to take an active role. This seems however to be changing as the Ministry for Culture and Equality are currently making a strategy for culture and sustainability.
An example of a programme aimed at facilitating cultural sustainability by public authorities can be found at https://www.kulturdirektoratet.no/web/guest/kreativ-naering/vis/-/a-kulturelt-drivhus
Regional and local programmes are probably more intersectoral.
Information is currently not available.