New times for cultural life
The festival days are inexorably over, but big things are happening in the cultural life of the Kongsberg region. New cultural center, new ventures and co-locations are under way. - It is not important for us to succeed alone, but that the entire cultural life in Kongsberg succeeds, began festival manager Kai Gustavsen. Together with Østafjelske competence center for music (ØKS) Kongsberg Jazz Festival gathered a star team to share good advice and talk about cultural cooperation during the festival's first Culture Industry Day and Thursday conversation.
Martin Eia-Revheim from Sentralen, Runar Eggesvik from Trøbbelskyter, Tone Christoffersen from the cultural center Stormen and Mariann Bjørnelv from the student community Folken were among the cultural organizers who were represented.
CO-WORKING FOR CREATIVE INDUSTRIES
- People do not automatically start working together just because they are sitting in the same room, said house manager Martin Eia-Revheim. The Savings Bank Foundation's new major venture will bring together 350 players on 12000 square meters in Oslo from 2016. A pilot project is already underway while the rehabilitation of the old savings bank building in Kvadraturen is underway. Eia-Revheim shared strategy and experiences at the Cultural Industry Day. The central aims for the actors to be different enough for friction to arise, and similar enough for them to be relevant to each other. It is important to ensure a community of the right mix. Cultural producers, for example, do not benefit as much from collaboration in a community where the majority are founders who would like to break through with new technological apps. It becomes another jargon. The centre's tenants will be cultural producers and social entrepreneurs.
At Kongsberg shall Energimølla, The Glogerfest games and Kongsbergjazz share offices. Yngvild Kristensen, manager of Energimølla, is most looking forward to having good sparring partners nearby. Not to underestimate good colleagues to have lunch with, but there is good value in being able to address new issues continuously with people in the same industry.
UNDERSTAND THE AUDIENCE
New cultural centers are always controversial, something Stormen in Bodø has taken this into account until the name selection itself. Succeeding in the operation of cultural centers or large festivals is demanding. There are many factors to take into account to make it happen. The Cultural Industry Day visited some of them. Runar Eggesvik has experience from a number of large projects such as Café Mono, The Culture House, Vulkan Arena, The island festival og City: Alarm, to mention a few. He still believes that audience development - attracting people and trying to understand the audience, is one of the most difficult and at the same time most challenging things you can do.
- Being an organizer is being a real entrepreneur. You have your own values at the bottom. Then it's about making yourself relevant to the audience. In some cases it is good to think narrowly, as when Runar started the rock club Mono and Martin Eia-Revheim started jazz club Blå. For larger festivals, it increasingly turns out that width is a smart move. For example, Kongsbergjazz accommodates everything from more commercial music to experimental and boundary-breaking jazz. Several age groups have received their own investments. The result is a low-threshold offer and a festival where everyone feels at home. For cultural centers, width is often both necessary and desirable. The debaters were unsure whether cultural center managers have realized the importance of this, and whether the plans are always thought through enough.
BUDGETING FOR EVERYDAY
Martin Eia-Revheim believes that having spent one's own money as a foundation, before stepping in as a manager and having to manage other people's, is a valuable experience. - I have probably developed a rather extreme "saving gene". His clear advice to actors who are about to start running cultural centers is to be frugal enough in their budgets. - There will be weekdays and rainy days. That's when there should be life in the houses! In the plans for some of the houses, it may look like they will be open 27 hours a day, with all halls sold out every day of the year. At the same time, sufficient staffing is not taken into account so that a small group of students can be there and practice their music on a weekday... or light in the premises. Many people spend huge sums on spectacular openings and forget the rest of the year. - A common trap is to spend all the money on the house itself, says Runar Eggesvik. But the content is always the most important. It's the content that draws people, not the building.
KONGSBERG AS ENGINE
Håvard Fossbakken from the Kongsberg region agrees with the challenges that lie ahead, but at the same time welcomes the new cultural center. He believes that the cultural environment in Kongsberg has been ready for a new place for many years. - The cultural cooperation has many exciting plans. For all parties, it is an advantage to show that they are part of something bigger. Kongsberg thrives on being an engine for the collaboration. Torbjørn Valum from Kongsberg Jazz Festival is happy for any competitors and new players. - The large supply of cultural offerings creates more activity and attracts people. We are solution-oriented and see the changes as new opportunities.
Text: Kjersti Sundland / Photo: Thomas Hegna. In the picture: Martin Eia-Revheim
