28. Stockholm, Sweden
Mamma Mia! It was chilly in Stockholm. Clad in thermal vest, scarf and gloves, I spent three days here, one evening with Josette Bushell-Mingo (long time collaborator of Hope Street and Unity), and husband Stefan Karsberg and their two gorgeous boys Rueben and Joshua. One evening we had a 12 piece Sushi. I liked it so much, the next night I had an 18 piece one. Well, you have to eat when it’s cold... They both work at the stunning Riksteatern (www.riksteatern.se), Sweden’s leading national touring theatre.
Stockholm was Cultural Capital of Europe in 1998. Would I discover something new here? Stories of how arts organisations were engaged in the programme? How they have been strengthened since? How the arts infrastructure is more vibrant now, than in the years leading up to 1998? Well... No.
It seems that when it comes to Cultural Capitals, the name of the game seems to be pretty much the same: lots of expectation, big build up, opportunities missed, all efforts and eyes focussed on the year itself and no thought to, (let alone a strategy for) the future. This said, Sweden is different from the other former Cultural Capitals I’ve visited. It is a wealthy country and invest considerable amounts of money in the arts.
Arranging meetings in Stockholm proved most difficult of all the places I’ve been to, but thanks to Josette and Hanna Fokdal Barnekow, a Danish journalist living in Stockholm I had several interesting meetings with theatre companies, theatre directors performance artists and designers who had been involved in the 1998 programme. I also met two officers at the Arts Council of Sweden - Monnica Lindqvist who’d been part of the programming team and Per Svenson who wrote the evaluation report.
One of the key aims was to revitalise suburban areas and to engage multicultural communities in the year programme. There were differences of opinion as to how successful this was. But there is evidence that the community engagement programmes provided a legacy for the city through the development of new organisations, for example the art gallery in the neighbourhood area of Tiensta, a new circus organisation in Botkyrka, the ReOrient Festival and the Selam Festival (celebration of African culture). There was also an increase in the emergence of new companies working in a multicultural context. One music company was set up that includes immigrant musicians from all over the world, and now living in Sweden. This project continues.
The 1998 programme had its share of locally produced work and international artists invited to present work comprising multi-media performance, theatre and dancing. Queen Silvia Sommerlath and King Carl Gustav attended events, giving the events an added touch of regality. I wonder if Her Madge will be amongst the crowds on Lime Street tapping her foot to the beat of Ringo’s drums atop St. George’s Hall.
The venues were given additional funding for the year to bring more international work to the city and there is agreement that the year brought an international focus to the city. But, as is the story everywhere else, “no-one thought beyond 1998”.
There were a number of criticisms of the Cultural Capital organising company, particularly in respect of the unclear procedures employed for small/medium sized organisations to propose projects for inclusion in the 1998 programme. They found themselves under attack for not being transparent in their decisions to accept or reject proposed projects. This meant that some organisations felt excluded from the programme. It seems like there were a number of battles during the year with questions raised as to whether Stockholm was worthy of being Capital of Culture. I hope we don’t face our own series of mini-Waterloos in Liverpool next year.
I met Peder Bjurman, a writer and director and long time collaborator of Robert Lepage who first came to Stockholm in 1994 and returned in 1998. Sadly he does not continue to present work in the city. Peder is currently developing a production agency - Loco-Motion - for small to medium sized theatre companies (www.loco-motion.se) and is aiming to establish a ‘creation centre’ in a disused warehouse. It would appear that the organising company of 1998 did not establish any long term sustainable structures for the small/medium sized companies and they felt as though the year and subsequent years had no benefits for them.
1998 and the years that followed had a positive impact on artists Bigert & Bergstöm (www.bigertbergstrom.com) who were commissioned to produce, what turned out to be a controversial, installation in a shop window. The exhibition, “Deathwatch”, featured the underwear of executed prisoners. It caused a stir amongst the staff and the public (Is it art? Should it be funded as part of Cultural Capital?) but it made the public more aware of the duo and it inspired them to produce a film continuing the theme of the installation.
On the subject of strange sights... I encountered one as I made my way home one evening. Two women walking down the hill grasping ski poles. No skis. No snow.... Another unusual sight was the absence of chewing gum on the pavements. Quite remarkable.
But the strangest phenomenon of all was that the off licenses close at 6pm. Except for Friday and Saturday when they remain open until 7pm. As the minutes ticked by and my meetings ran on, my desire for a glass of wine increased. I was close to sending out an S.O.S. to ensure I didn’t miss closing time.
I was head over heels to be in the land of the Swedish Super Troupers and of course, a visit to Stockholm wouldn’t be complete without a visit to the Abba Museum... Sadly, it doesn’t open until 2009, A-ha. Until then, so long Stockholm. I do hope to return to see it.
As I returned to England I overheard two English blokes who’d done an appraisal of an organisation in Zagreb. They were discussing the danger spots of the organisations corridors and public spaces... cables loose on the floor, other obstructions, no warning signs and so on. I’d almost forgotten about risk assessments and all that. One of us had to move away before they had to do a risk assessment on my blood pressure rising. As we walked through the gate to the aircraft, we stepped over large puddles created by the 72 hour downpour there’d been in the city. I wonder if someone had done a risk assessment for them?
Stockholm was Cultural Capital of Europe in 1998. Would I discover something new here? Stories of how arts organisations were engaged in the programme? How they have been strengthened since? How the arts infrastructure is more vibrant now, than in the years leading up to 1998? Well... No.
It seems that when it comes to Cultural Capitals, the name of the game seems to be pretty much the same: lots of expectation, big build up, opportunities missed, all efforts and eyes focussed on the year itself and no thought to, (let alone a strategy for) the future. This said, Sweden is different from the other former Cultural Capitals I’ve visited. It is a wealthy country and invest considerable amounts of money in the arts.
Arranging meetings in Stockholm proved most difficult of all the places I’ve been to, but thanks to Josette and Hanna Fokdal Barnekow, a Danish journalist living in Stockholm I had several interesting meetings with theatre companies, theatre directors performance artists and designers who had been involved in the 1998 programme. I also met two officers at the Arts Council of Sweden - Monnica Lindqvist who’d been part of the programming team and Per Svenson who wrote the evaluation report.
One of the key aims was to revitalise suburban areas and to engage multicultural communities in the year programme. There were differences of opinion as to how successful this was. But there is evidence that the community engagement programmes provided a legacy for the city through the development of new organisations, for example the art gallery in the neighbourhood area of Tiensta, a new circus organisation in Botkyrka, the ReOrient Festival and the Selam Festival (celebration of African culture). There was also an increase in the emergence of new companies working in a multicultural context. One music company was set up that includes immigrant musicians from all over the world, and now living in Sweden. This project continues.
The 1998 programme had its share of locally produced work and international artists invited to present work comprising multi-media performance, theatre and dancing. Queen Silvia Sommerlath and King Carl Gustav attended events, giving the events an added touch of regality. I wonder if Her Madge will be amongst the crowds on Lime Street tapping her foot to the beat of Ringo’s drums atop St. George’s Hall.
The venues were given additional funding for the year to bring more international work to the city and there is agreement that the year brought an international focus to the city. But, as is the story everywhere else, “no-one thought beyond 1998”.
There were a number of criticisms of the Cultural Capital organising company, particularly in respect of the unclear procedures employed for small/medium sized organisations to propose projects for inclusion in the 1998 programme. They found themselves under attack for not being transparent in their decisions to accept or reject proposed projects. This meant that some organisations felt excluded from the programme. It seems like there were a number of battles during the year with questions raised as to whether Stockholm was worthy of being Capital of Culture. I hope we don’t face our own series of mini-Waterloos in Liverpool next year.
I met Peder Bjurman, a writer and director and long time collaborator of Robert Lepage who first came to Stockholm in 1994 and returned in 1998. Sadly he does not continue to present work in the city. Peder is currently developing a production agency - Loco-Motion - for small to medium sized theatre companies (www.loco-motion.se) and is aiming to establish a ‘creation centre’ in a disused warehouse. It would appear that the organising company of 1998 did not establish any long term sustainable structures for the small/medium sized companies and they felt as though the year and subsequent years had no benefits for them.
1998 and the years that followed had a positive impact on artists Bigert & Bergstöm (www.bigertbergstrom.com) who were commissioned to produce, what turned out to be a controversial, installation in a shop window. The exhibition, “Deathwatch”, featured the underwear of executed prisoners. It caused a stir amongst the staff and the public (Is it art? Should it be funded as part of Cultural Capital?) but it made the public more aware of the duo and it inspired them to produce a film continuing the theme of the installation.
On the subject of strange sights... I encountered one as I made my way home one evening. Two women walking down the hill grasping ski poles. No skis. No snow.... Another unusual sight was the absence of chewing gum on the pavements. Quite remarkable.
But the strangest phenomenon of all was that the off licenses close at 6pm. Except for Friday and Saturday when they remain open until 7pm. As the minutes ticked by and my meetings ran on, my desire for a glass of wine increased. I was close to sending out an S.O.S. to ensure I didn’t miss closing time.
I was head over heels to be in the land of the Swedish Super Troupers and of course, a visit to Stockholm wouldn’t be complete without a visit to the Abba Museum... Sadly, it doesn’t open until 2009, A-ha. Until then, so long Stockholm. I do hope to return to see it.
As I returned to England I overheard two English blokes who’d done an appraisal of an organisation in Zagreb. They were discussing the danger spots of the organisations corridors and public spaces... cables loose on the floor, other obstructions, no warning signs and so on. I’d almost forgotten about risk assessments and all that. One of us had to move away before they had to do a risk assessment on my blood pressure rising. As we walked through the gate to the aircraft, we stepped over large puddles created by the 72 hour downpour there’d been in the city. I wonder if someone had done a risk assessment for them?
