Commercialism and decentralisation for broader engagement in the arts: new directions in Swedish cultural policy since 2009

In 2009 the conservative Swedish government launched a new cultural policy proposition emphasising broader engagement in the arts both consumption-wise, politically and economically. This proposition and two specific elements of it will be discussed in this paper; the cooperation and consultation model of distribution of state support to regional culture and schemes for stimulating broadened, i.e. private, funding to the arts. The political ambitions of the proposition are analysed through document analysis and its effects through a questionnaire among cultural organisations in the Region of Skåne. The study shows that, paradoxically, public investment in culture is needed to stimulate private financing, and that the cooperation and consultation model has led to increasing contacts between regional and local public and cultural actors whereas funding patterns have not changed significantly. The political call for more private and earned income to the arts and culture, however, is felt both on national, regional and local level by cultural organisations