On rabbit holes and forced marriages
Åshild Andrea Brekke, Issue 111/11, p19, 01.11.2011
Remember it’s ok to fail, was the first thing I was told when I started working for the Norwegian Museum, Library and Archive (MLA) Authority in 2007.
I remember thinking how cool it was to work in a place where failure was seen as a necessary part of development work – pushing innovation and breaking new ground is not for the faint-hearted.
The Norwegian MLA was established in January 2003 as part of a long-term government strategy for developing these three sectors and implementing cultural policies. The MLA in England had been a significant source of inspiration.
It was designed as a cross-sectoral public body responsible for developing strategies, policies and projects aimed at strengthening innovation and quality in museums, libraries and archives in an age of digitisation and increasingly diversified audiences. Definitely a cool mandate, in other words.
But by January this year the party was over and before we knew it we had merged with the Arts Council Norway.
The culmination of a swift, but obscure political process, which had started in 2009 when, out of the blue, a white paper on libraries proposed that our library functions and staff be transferred to the National Library.
From the inside it felt like we had become part of a surreal game of dominoes – move the library piece and the rest falls down the rabbithole. So where did we fail? In fact, did we?
A 2008 government commissioned evaluation stated that although we could have communicated our priorities more clearly, we had proved an important player in the development of museums, libraries and archives.
Innovative projects on digital storytelling; sensitive and contested topics; participatory and inclusive methods; as well as on partnerships with correctional services and Alzheimer-patients were just some of the initiatives we helped to develop and supported with our seed-funding. All in all, a success story.
But it ended with a forced marriage between two very different parties: the MLA, a young and somewhat unorthodox organisation with a bit of pocket money, and the arts council, an older organisation, with a different mission and a significantly bigger range of earmarked funds.
Ten months into the first year of marriage things seem to be moving in the right direction. Not least thanks to our new director. She has embraced the merger with energy, open-mindedness and humour.
This is promising in view of the formidable tasks ahead, both in the arts and the cultural heritage sectors. Who knows what groundbreaking cross-sectoral projects may result from this particular marriage? This rabbithole looks like it’s leading to a more interesting place.
Åshild Andrea Brekke is a senior adviser at Arts Council Norway
I remember thinking how cool it was to work in a place where failure was seen as a necessary part of development work – pushing innovation and breaking new ground is not for the faint-hearted.
The Norwegian MLA was established in January 2003 as part of a long-term government strategy for developing these three sectors and implementing cultural policies. The MLA in England had been a significant source of inspiration.
It was designed as a cross-sectoral public body responsible for developing strategies, policies and projects aimed at strengthening innovation and quality in museums, libraries and archives in an age of digitisation and increasingly diversified audiences. Definitely a cool mandate, in other words.
But by January this year the party was over and before we knew it we had merged with the Arts Council Norway.
The culmination of a swift, but obscure political process, which had started in 2009 when, out of the blue, a white paper on libraries proposed that our library functions and staff be transferred to the National Library.
From the inside it felt like we had become part of a surreal game of dominoes – move the library piece and the rest falls down the rabbithole. So where did we fail? In fact, did we?
A 2008 government commissioned evaluation stated that although we could have communicated our priorities more clearly, we had proved an important player in the development of museums, libraries and archives.
Innovative projects on digital storytelling; sensitive and contested topics; participatory and inclusive methods; as well as on partnerships with correctional services and Alzheimer-patients were just some of the initiatives we helped to develop and supported with our seed-funding. All in all, a success story.
But it ended with a forced marriage between two very different parties: the MLA, a young and somewhat unorthodox organisation with a bit of pocket money, and the arts council, an older organisation, with a different mission and a significantly bigger range of earmarked funds.
Ten months into the first year of marriage things seem to be moving in the right direction. Not least thanks to our new director. She has embraced the merger with energy, open-mindedness and humour.
This is promising in view of the formidable tasks ahead, both in the arts and the cultural heritage sectors. Who knows what groundbreaking cross-sectoral projects may result from this particular marriage? This rabbithole looks like it’s leading to a more interesting place.
Åshild Andrea Brekke is a senior adviser at Arts Council Norway
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