There was a storm around former Culture and Gender Equality Minister Anette Trettebergstuen after she told about her own violations of the ethics rules. She had suggested friends and acquaintances to various positions in cultural life. Trettebergstuen had not declared herself incompetent in cases where she obviously was. This cost her the position of minister. The striking thing is that she, as head of Kultur-Norge, did what many people in cultural life have done for a long time; namely to pull strings for those we know. We hire friends, put close acquaintances into board positions and book artists with whom we have a personal relationship. In many cases, we should have declared ourselves ineligible. Do we think that the disqualification rules do not apply to us? In an industry where you often operate with project positions and short assignments, there are many people who need to recruit the safe. We recruit those we know because we know what to expect from them. We don’t want unpleasant surprises. Nevertheless, we have to ask ourselves; who doesn’t get to? Are we helping to prevent new voices and perspectives by continuing with this unculture? Are we helping to prevent art and cultural life from changing? Unfortunately, network culture and internal recruitment of friends help to keep these voices outside the high gates of cultural life. The road from gatekeeper to door opener is not necessarily long, but it requires structural change and continuous development. It requires that we become aware of our own lack of culture and our own preferences, which contribute to us recruiting those who are relatively similar to ourselves. By giving way to new voices, we will both increase cultural freedom of expression and artistic development. There were probably many of us who shook our heads at Trettebergstuen’s actions. At the same time, it is time to realize that many of us have done something similar in various recruitment processes. If art and culture are to reflect society and the spirit of the times, we must look around our own table. Who is that sitting there? Or more importantly; who is not sitting there?
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Time to look around your own table – Ytring
