Sweden 2016 report

Taking Place is an initiative specifically focussed on cultural activity in residential areas with low electoral turnout rates or other socioeconomic challenges. It takes place during the period 2016–2018. The initiative will be founded on the needs, involvement and participation of residents. Participation and empowerment depend on an opportunity for people to exert influence, which also includes influence over art and culture in their own residential area. The Swedish Arts Council allocates earmarked funding to the projects and in addition to this funding, the initiative also covers public art projects under the Public Art Agency Sweden. Government grants may be awarded to a legal person (not a government or municipal body) for projects in new or existing cultural activities. The project must be based on the involvement and participation of those who live in the area in which the cultural activity is to be carried out. The project must also take place in partnership between several actors, at least one of which is a locally based civil society organisation. All in all, the grant must promote diversity, accessibility and gender equality in the cultural activities involved and encourage exchanging experiences and the spreading of knowledge.

The Government’s fundamental assumption is that all children, whatever their background, are to be given an opportunity to engage with the arts. Municipally run music and arts schools give children and young people an opportunity to perform and develop their creative abilities. Within their operations, children and young people are able to become involved in music, drama, dance or painting. It is voluntary for municipalities to run arts schools and municipalities decide for themselves on the size of the fees payable. This means that there are differences between different municipalities. Some municipalities, for example, charge high fees while others have low fees or none whatsoever. A few municipalities do not have an arts school at all. Today the work of arts schools is one of the largest cultural activities for children and young people in Sweden. This means that arts schools are an important element in national cultural and education policy. Despite the major importance of arts schools, a joined-up strategy for national coordination and evaluation of activities is lacking and the Government has therefore appointed an inquiry to review this area and propose initiatives to improve the status quo in this respect.

The overarching objective of the work of the Swedish Arts Grants Committee is to promote the opportunities of artists to develop their artistic talents, which is crucial to attaining the national objective of cultural policy that culture is to be a dynamic, challenging and independent force founded on freedom of expression. The opportunity of artists to develop their artistry is also promoted by highlighting artist policy issues in the national and international arena. The Committee works to fulfil its objective through overarching government commissions, information and analysis. Government grants are allocated via a spectrum of different support systems, covering national grants as well as international grants and subsidies. The Committee’s extensive international work, including its international programmes, is an important element of the promotional work that the Committee carries out. The Committee’s international strategy has involved greater cooperation with and support to actors across Sweden, which in turn has encouraged internationalisation on the part of the artists themselves. At the same time the Committee has worked at EU level to encourage artist mobility, which has also involved obtaining and passing on more knowledge at national level. The Arts Grants Committee has also been involved in UNESCO’s comparative study on the conditions of artists and translated and disseminated a UN report on the state of artistic freedom in the world.

Within its government mandate of promoting the role of culture in freedom of expression and democratisation, the Committee has worked to create a discussion platform between culture and aid policy. The Committee’s support for the cultural exchanges of artists with aid countries has been highlighted as an important factor for freedom of expression and democracy. Since 1 October 2015 The Culture bridge has been a special decisionmaking body within the committee. The task of The Culture Bridge is to support innovative culture, and new forms of running and/or financing cultural activities.

The efforts in Sweden to secure equal rights and opportunities regardless of sexual orientation, gender identity and gender expression were and are being carried out through a number of initiatives in various sectors of society. Lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) persons are still affected by discrimination and other violations in Swedish society.

The Government believes that this requires a coherent strategy with long-term efforts to promote equal rights and opportunities regardless of sexual orientation, gender identity or gender expression. This is the first joint strategy, in order to promote LGBT persons’ equal rights and opportunities in various areas, and was adopted on 1 January 2014.

The strategy that was adopted by the government gives the work a more cohesive and long-term form by placing it within the framework of a coherent structure. This structure consists of a number of focus areas and strategic government agencies. The focus areas included in the strategy are assessed as being key to LGBT persons’ equal rights and equal opportunities. One of the focus areas covered by the strategy is culture.

The Government’s ambition is to encourage the excellent opportunities that culture offers to contribute towards greater diversity and openness by rendering visible and challenging norms that restrict people. e.g. in terms of their sexual orientation, gender identity or gender expression. This ambition links back to the objective of cultural policy laid down by the Government. The cultural institutions have an important role to play in providing conditions for a shared society founded on freedom of expression. Culture agencies and other cultural actors are important bearers and conveyors of knowledge and cultural expression. The cultural institutions thus have an important role in terms of contributing new angles, highlighting new aspects, questioning and creating debate. Their work paves the way for an open, inclusive and democratic society.

The digitalisation has rapidly opened up a new communication landscape. Rapid changes and new patterns may pose a threat to existing forms of cultural expression, but also offer greaterpossibilities for preservation, use and enrichment opportunities using new methods and ways of working. The internet has also led to new ways for everyone to participate in the different parts of society, particularly in the cultural sphere. People are no longer satisfied with merely consuming culture. Increasing numbers of people also want to create for themselves, share and recreate together with other people.

Today horizontal networks, based on shared interests, link together individuals as well as organisations. At the same time, vertical processes have been developed in which citizens can easily come into contact with decision-makers and individual experts. This has affected the work of cultural institutions, like the question of digitalisation and use of cultural heritage information and cultural heritage materials.

Digisam is a coordination secretariat for digitalisation, digital preservation and for making cultural heritage digitally accessible. The coordination secretariat was set up by the Government as a special unit at the National Board of Antiquities. The secretariat is to be responsible for competence building and obtaining knowledge in the field of digitalisation and coordinating digitalisation activities at the national cultural heritage agencies/institutions. It is to work to ensure that the entire area of cultural heritage and other related activities is able to take part in the work of digital cultural heritage. Digisam works with areas such as:

- Cooperation with public institutions and non-profit organisations

- Developing audiences to retain and develop relationships with old and new

-Acessibility

-Social media

-Digitalisation

-3D

-Copyright and licensing

Under the name Swedish Literature Exchange, the Swedish Arts Council has the task to promote Swedish literature abroad. This is done by grants, information about Swedish literature and the Swedish book market, activities to strengthen the translators and promotional work at international book fairs.

Translation grant: Foreign publishers can apply for grants to cover translation and production costs for Swedish literature and drama.

Grant for literature projects and events: Organizations, publishers, literary festivals etc. can apply for grants for literature projects and events, for example author visits to literary festivals, book signings, readings, as well as translation seminars, special magazines about Swedish literature, costs in connection with reading events.

Grants for translators of Swedish literature: Translator from Swedish into other languages can apply for grants to cover travel and accommodation costs or seminar fees or other work related costs.

Grants for the Gothenburg Book Fair Fellowship: the Swedish Arts Council offers a Fellowship program for foreign publishers and translators during the Gothenburg Book Fair each year. The grant covers travel, accommodation, a full program with lectures and meetings with different parts of the Swedish book market.

Grants for Swedish agents for export related costs: the Swedish agencies can apply for a grant to cover costs for sample translations and other marketing material, travel and accommodation for visiting new markets, or other costs involved in the export activities.

In addition to the grants, the Swedish Arts Council offers information about  Swedish literature, through the newsletter Swedish Literature Exchange, and the magazine New Swedish Books. They also participate in the large international book fairs, for example London Book Fair,  Frankfurt Book Fair where they offer the Swedish publishers and agents to exhibit in the Swedish or Nordic collective stands. The Swedish Arts Council also work to strengthen the translators from Swedish into other languages, with conferences and network possibilities.

The Swedish Arts Grants Committee´s  overarching task is to promote opportunities for artists to develop their artistic talent. This is done partly by developing artists’ opportunities for international and intercultural cultural exchanges. Exchanges take place within all spheres of the arts. The aim of the international programmes is to contribute towards artistic development and improved working and income opportunities. The task of the international programmes is, through residencies in Sweden and abroad, international collaboration projects, information activities and expert visits, to develop artists’ contacts with institutions, individual professional representatives such as producers and critics, and with colleagues, audiences and markets abroad.

Iaspis is The Swedish Arts Grants Committee´s  international programme for visual and applied artists. Its mission is to work with internationalisation in various ways with the aim of increasing and developing contacts between Swedish artists and international institutions, fellow artists, the general public and the markets with the aim of contributing to artistic development and improved working and income opportunities. This is done by means of direct support for various forms of international cultural exchange, studio programmes in Sweden and abroad, information activities and expert visits, as well as via a public programme of activities which formulate and explore topical issues in contemporary visual art and design from an international perspective.

Since the early 1990s cities across the world have taken the initiative to invite in an author or a journalist for a particular period who does not have the opportunity to freely pursue their profession in their homeland. Today this movement has expanded to include musicians and artists.

Both the Swedish Government and the Riksdag maintain that it is necessary to work for more cities of refuge in Sweden and that the artists who are in Sweden under this scheme should be afforded greater opportunities to become part of the public sphere. The Arts Council has been commissioned to work to create more cities of refuge for persecuted artists. This task is carried out in collaboration with the agencies and organisations affected and with municipalities and county councils. The Cities of Refuge programme differs from other artistic residency programmes in that the most important selection criterion is not artistic merit but instead the artist’s need to reach a place of safety and/or to have their voice heard and their texts published. It is thus often a question of removing an artist from a dangerous situation because they risk persecution due to their work. There are currently about fifteen cities of refuge in Sweden. About forty cities in Europe as well as Mexico City and Miami have joined forces in the International Cities of Refuge Network, ICORN. ICORN has sixteen Swedish members, most of which are cities but a couple of Swedish regions are also members. Of these sixteen, fifteen take in artists seeking refuge. Some cities of refuge have more than one place and usually take two artists who work in different areas of the arts. About twenty-five artists have been given refuge from 2012–2016. As a rule, the basic funding comes from the municipal board of the respective town or city via the cultural board, and usually amounts to about SEK 300 000. It is also possible to apply for grants from The Arts Council for translation, events, seminars or similar.

To fulfil the objectives of Swedish aid policy and cultural policy The Swedish Arts Council was commissioned to administer and allocate aid funds cooperation projects in the cultural field for the period 2011-2013.

This funding covered Botswana, Namibia, South Africa, China, India and Indonesia. 63 individual projects were carried out in total. The Swedish Arts Council ran the project in partnership with The Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency.

According to The Swedish Arts Council artistic exchanges helped to fulfil some of the objectives of Swedish aid policy and cultural policy. The Swedish arts Council notes that the partner-driven cooperation projects have formed a platform for greater freedom of expression, greater gender equality, helped to combat poverty and enabled democratic processes to be accommodated in society.

A majority of the projects integrated the development cooperation policy objectives in their activities. Many projects arranged discussion forums in which questions concerning freedom of expression, human rights, democracy and combatting poverty were discussed. The Swedish Arts Council considers that these discussion forums formed a platform for greater freedom of expression. Participation in partner-driven cooperation projects has brought individual cultural actors new commissions and greater export opportunities. Some of the projects raised the status of the field of art, which can create jobs and thus also greater opportunities to earn a living.

At national level the Government has during 2016 decided upon a policy framework for Swedish development cooperation. In this framework the Government clearly sets out how development cooperation is to help to achieve the global Sustainable Development Goals on which the world has agreed. The purpose of the framework is to safeguard economically, socially and environmentally sustainable and gender equal Swedish development cooperation. Swedish development cooperation is to relate to the new global Sustainable Development Goals, the development financing measures decided in Addis Abeba, and to the climate conference in Paris, and it also a link to the Government’s cohesion policy for global development. The field of culture and the role of the artists are clearly set out as an area within the framework, partly to promote a democratic culture.

The Collaborative Cultural Model is a model for allocating government grants to regional cultural activities. Within this model, The Swedish Arts Council allocates government grants to regions and county councils on the basis of a regional cultural plan. Regions and county councils further disburse the grants to professional theatre, dance and music activities, museums, libraries, art and culture promotion, regional private archives, film culture activities and handicraft promotion activities.

The shift in regional cultural policy presumes closer collaboration between the different agencies and organisations that have financial and/or strong interests in the collaborative cultural model. The solution chosen by the Government was to set up a Collaborative Council. Agencies and organisations in the Collaborative Council are agencies and regional institutions and the council is chaired by The Arts Council. In 2013 twenty regions were included in the collaborative cultural model for the first time. Collaboration between culture and civil society is part of the collaborative cultural model. Consultation with professional cultural practitioners is reported to have taken place both in formalised and in less formalised contexts. 17 out of 20 regions state that professional cultural practitioners have participated in or been invited to participate in annual meetings. The same number state that formalised consultation has taken place on repeated occasions during the year. These consultations take different forms in the regions, in open meetings such as cultural parliaments and hearings, but also individual consultations solely with professionals in the cultural sphere. Along with municipalities and professional cultural practitioners, some civil society actors also takes part in regional working groups and networks. Collaboration partly within the remit of the Collaboration Council and with professional cultural practitioners and civil society organisations is essential to the long-term sustainability of the Collaborative Cultural Model.

The Swedish International Developement Cooperation Agency (Sida) is a government agency working on behalf of the Swedish Riksdag and Government, with the mission to reduce poverty in the world. Through Sida’s work and in cooperation with others, Sida contributes to implementing Sweden’s Policy for Global Development.

Sweden passes on funding to UNESCO through Sida. Almost SEK 400 million will be allocated over a four-year period, 2014–2017. The funding will be allocated to the areas of education, science, culture, and communication and information. A multi-year agreement enables UNESCO’s work on its core programmes to be planned for the longer term. It partly includes supporting education systems, freedom of expression and stronger media and security for journalists and culture workers

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The UNESCO report RE: SHAPING CULTURAL POLICIES was drawn up to follow up work on the 2005 UNESCO Convention on the Protection and Promotion of the Diversity of Cultural Expressions. Despite many challenges, the Convention has influenced a number of policies around the world, especially in terms of the film industry, book publishing, artist mobility and disseminating local audio-visual productions.

The Global Report was produced with the financial support of the Swedish Government, through Sida, within the framework of the project “Enhancing Fundamental Freedoms through the Promotion of the Diversity of Cultural Expressions’’.

The Nordic Council of Ministers is the official collaborative body of the Nordic governments. Overall responsibility for cooperation lies with the prime ministers. In practice, responsibility is delegated to the Ministers for Nordic Co-operation and to the Nordic Committee for Cooperation, which coordinates the day-to-day work of official political Nordic cooperation. Within this cooperation a strategy for cultural cooperation 2013–2020 has been drawn up by The Nordic Council of Ministers. The strategy shows that flourishing arts and culture are essential in a modern society. The strategy states that cultural experiences and cultural activities are important for social interaction, developing identity and for inclusion in which trust, respect and social connections can be forged between citizens. Art and cultural challenges develop us as individuals and as a society and contribute towards a sustainable society.

For this reason it is important that there is access to a diverse range of art and cultural experiences and that everyone has opportunities to express themselves through art and culture. To resolve some of the major challenges that society faces, a joined-up approach is needed spanning several sectors and policy areas. Culture has a major impact on other areas such as industrial development and employment, integration, health, learning and creativity.

The Swedish Media Council has been tasked with empowering children and young people to raise their awareness as media users and protecting them from harmful media influences. Its work is focused on increasing the media and information awareness of children and young people, i.e. their ability to find, analyse and critically assess information and to create content in various media. Media and information awareness is essential to children and young people’s participation in the information society and in order to make the most of the democracy-strengthening function the internet may offer.

In recent years The Swedish Media Council has produced educational material which can be used by parents and professionals who are in close contact with children. The agency has been commissioned to perform a range of special tasks including combatting discrimination, xenophobia, sexism, intolerance and antidemocratic messages and strengthening democracy and gender equality. The council has also started work to adapt its material to children and young people with cognitive and intellectual disabilities.

The Swedish Film Institute Foundation (SFI) works to promote film across the board – from idea to finished product, during launch in Sweden and around the world, and by preserving films for posterity in our archives. In 2010–2014 SFI was granted special funding by the Government to increase gender equality in the film industry through grants to young women filmmakers. The 2013 film agreement made the gender equality criterion more stringent, which means that production subsidies were to be allocated equally between women and men. By the end of 2015 the total of the subsidies allocated during the agreement period were to have been disbursed to 50 per cent women and 50 per cent men in each of the three occupational categories of director, scriptwriter and producer. This goal has now been achieved in principle. In 2016 the Ministry of Culture commissioned Filminstitutet to head work on a seminar at Cannes under the slogan “Fiftyfifty by 2020” with the aim of using Sweden’s stance on gender equality in film production to raise international interest in the issue. The seminar attracted widespread international attention.