In 2024, Bodø will be the European Capital of Culture. The planning of the prestigious project worth around NOK 300 million is in full swing. Wednesday night was the set for the first big launch party. – Why was it not in the square? – Is not the intention of Bodø2024 should be for everyone? This is what commentator in Avisa Nordland, Børre Arntzen, asks. – They have made a closed event for special guests to celebrate something that apparently should be very important. A kind of milestone for Bodø2024’s project. Then it turns out that it is a new graphic profile. – A closed event is a strong signal that Bodø 2024 is a closed scheme. They create an exclusivity around the project, which is completely undressable simply. It is totally misunderstood in relation to what Bodø 2024 will be, says commentator Børre Arntzen in Avisa Nordland. Photo: Tom Melby / Avisa Nordland He wonders how happy Nordland’s residents are that Bodø2024 is replacing a four-year-old logo. The picture shows old and new logo. Photo: Bodø2024 – It is a pity and a little provocative that when they try to be shown, it is in the form of a closed event about something insignificant as a graphic profile. I would think that the graphic profile they had, was hardly what made us notice little to Bodø2024. If the new graphic profile will get us more engaged, I do not have much faith in, says Arntzen. And adds: – It is very unwise of them to try and do it exclusively for sponsors and cultural actors who are already in the heat. This is not how they get the commitment they are completely dependent on. Arntzen emphasizes that he is not angry that he himself was not invited to the big launch party. And hope that Bodø2024 chooses a different strategy next time there is a party. – There are only one and a half years left until the cultural city year opens. But they do not appear. We ordinary citizens do not notice anything about it being a European Capital of Culture. Bodø as European Capital of Culture Bodø and Nordland have been working for several years to become European Capital of Culture (ECoC) in 2024. Bodø will be the third Norwegian city to become European Capital of Culture. Bergen was previously the European Capital of Culture in 2000 and Stavanger / Sandnes in 2008. Bodø competed with Banja Luka and Mostar, both of which are located in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Bodø has met with resistance in the work to get the generous status. When it became known that Bodø would apply, Minister of Culture Trine Skei Grande went out and advised Bodø not to apply. Grande believed that Bodø should wait a few years to apply, and refused to support the project financially with NOK 100 million. Bodø, however, defied Grande’s advice, and submitted the application. At the same time, it became known that municipally owned Bodø Energi gave NOK 24 million to the project. Bodø needed external help to be able to pay the 300 million kroner the Capital of Culture project is estimated to cost. In total, Bodø needs 100 million from the business community to realize the plans. The state, county and municipality will be responsible for the rest. After it became known that Bodø would become European Capital of Culture, the government put NOK 100 million on the table. In 2024, there will also be two other European Capitals of Culture – Tartu in Estonia and Bad Ischl in Austria. Since 1984, the EU has designated European cultural cities, since then called cultural capitals. The idea is culture, and not just economics and industry, as a driving force for civilized urban development. – What should they do? In the future, they should focus on open markings in the square where it is free for everyone who wants to participate. It would be very nice if this summer you could experience that they are on the offensive. Then we experience that they choose to be exclusive. They have to stop. – Bodø2024 will be one of the largest cultural projects in the world, we will have about 600 events, there will be tens of thousands of spectators, we will boost tourism and we will create the world’s longest party throughout 2024, says Helge Grønmo. Photo: Bodø2024 Bodø2024: – It was about capacity Bodø2024 has no understanding of the criticism that is now coming. – No, by no means. It is two years until we kick off the Capital of Culture year. This was a small event, which was about logo and our own visual identity, says Helge Grønmo, who is communications and marketing manager at Bodø2024. That it was not an open event is about capacity. – We used the town hall and there is only room for 200 guests. This time it was the presentation of our new visual identity that took the main focus, he explains. Grønmo points out that this is probably of most interest to the partners, the owners and the political environment in Bodø and Nordland. – These were the ones we chose to invite this time. At the same time, we wanted to give players in the cultural industry the opportunity to perform. This is the explanation for a price tag of just under NOK 200,000. Grønmo also defends the change of logo and profile for the cultural city project. – The new logo works much better in all our marketing. For us, it is now easier to tell our story. We all in Nordland believe that both wants and demands. Grønmo admits that it is a challenge to create engagement with most people. – It is a long canvas to bleach. The organization is beginning to take shape and when the program is launched, many will probably gain a greater understanding of what is going to happen. February 3, exactly one year before the opening, we will launch large parts of what is on the poster, says Grønmo. – Come out crooked Børre Arntzen still chooses to be optimistic on behalf of the Capital of Culture project. – I know there are good people working in the project. Very optimistic on behalf of the project, and thinks it will go well in the end. But the project has come out crooked. With director appointments, dismissals and lots of nonsense.
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Bodø2024 receives criticism after launch party – news Nordland
