– It sends a signal that culture outside Oslo is a low priority, says director of KODE Art Museums and Composers Home, Petter Snare. Because in the Government’s proposal for the state budget, Kode Kunstmuseer receives a sharp cut. State aid will be reduced from 53 million to 46 million. This amounts to a cut of approximately 20 percent. – For KODE this came like lightning from a rainy sky, and for us this is hugely dramatic. It is a solution we cannot live with, he says. Not the first cut Snare is still not without hope, because according to him, Culture and Gender Equality Minister Lubna Jaffery promised on Thursday evening that she would find a long-term solution for Kode. This is so that they will avoid annual battles over funding. – From time to time you have to set some priorities, but I am concerned that we must find a sustainable solution for Kode, says Lubna Jaffery to news. Because this is not the first time Kode has experienced such a cut. Last year, the government did the same, and cut 10 million, but then SV leader Audun Lysbakken saved the allocation in the budget negotiations with the government. This is one of Kode’s museums, the Permanenten. Photo: Marit Hommedal / NTB scanpix – The most important thing for us is that the Minister of Culture now does as she has promised, and calls a meeting so that we can find a long-term solution so that art and culture in Bergen and in Western Norway have safe conditions, says Snare . The museum is Norway’s second largest art museum and consists of four art museums in the center of Bergen and three composers’ homes outside the city centre. The museum offers contemporary art, older art, museum objects, concerts and nature experiences. They have been clear for many years that the institution is significantly underfunded, and was about to go bankrupt in 2020. Lysbakken reacts Jaffery points out that no one has so far been able to find a solution to Kode’s financial problems. She thinks a meeting with Kode can help. – It involves sitting down and looking at which of Kode’s challenges are the most precarious. We have to look at how we can solve it with finances, but also look at organisation. It’s not nice to get a cut, but it’s also not nice to give a cut, according to Lubna Jaffery. – But sometimes you have to do it, she says. Photo: Silje Rognsvåg / news Storting representative Audun Lysbakken (SV) finds it both provocative and disappointing that Kode’s funds are being cut. – There has been broad agreement among all the parties that the severe lopsided distribution of cultural funds, if you compare Oslo with Bergen, should end, he says. Therefore, this is very surprising, according to him. – I had hoped that the government would come up with a further increase. I didn’t have the imagination to think that they came up with that cut, so it’s very surprising. SV has been working to get funding for Kode for the past two years, and once again they have to enter into a discussion about them. – I am absolutely determined to fight a new round for Kode, but I really think it is a shame that it should be necessary, says Lysbakken. Audun Lysbakken finds it very surprising that they have to have this discussion with the governing parties again. Photo: William Jobling / news That cultural life in Oslo is prioritized over the rest of the country, Jaffery believes, is wrong. Then she points out, among other things, that the Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra and Bergen National Opera have received increased funds in this year’s proposed state budget. – I think it is a claim that does not stand up. The money is distributed all over the country, and is in line with what we have said. We must have more art and culture throughout the country.
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Severe cut in the state budget for Kode art museums – news Vestland
