Ministry of Culture

At 13.00 on Thursday 19 October, Minister for Culture and Democracy Alice Bah Kuhnke will present the Per Anger Prize to women’s rights activist Gégé Katana Bukuru, in honour of her work for human rights and women’s rights in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The prize ceremony will take place at Södra Latin Upper Secondary School in Stockholm.

On 14 July 2018, Ingmar Bergman would have celebrated his 100th birthday. He was one of Sweden’s internationally most renowned and important artists ever. The Budget Bill for 2018 proposes allocating grants to the Royal Dramatic Theatre, the Ingmar Bergman Foundation, the Fårö Bergman Centre Foundation and the Swedish Film Institute for initiatives to highlight the centenary nationally and internationally.

The Government proposes in the Budget Bill for 2018 to give the National Library of Sweden an extra SEK 25 million per year for three years. The aim is to improve people’s digital skills and ability to critically appraise sources.

The Government proposes that SEK 250 million be allocated each year in 2018–2020 to increase the range and accessibility of library activities throughout the country. A total of SEK 25 million per year of this investment will be provided to the cultural cooperation model, which allocates funds to libraries and activities to promote reading and literature. The Budget Bill for 2018 is based on an agreement between the Government and the Left Party.

The Government proposes that the appropriation to the National Archives be increased by SEK 10 million from 2018 to abolish fees to access digital archive material. This will make some 100 million digital archive images freely available, reducing costs for private individuals to conduct genealogy or area research.

The Government has decided to make the ‘Unga Klara’ theatre company a national theatre institute for children and young people as of 2018. State support for the theatre company will amount to an estimated SEK 16.2 million in 2018, and then SEK 15.4 million per year. This means that state support to Unga Klara will be more than doubled compared with today.

The Government proposes in the Budget Bill for 2018 that new municipalities join the administrative areas for the national minority languages of Sami, Finnish and Meänkieli. To fund this, the appropriation will be increased by SEK 16 million in 2018 and by SEK 20 million per year from 2019. The Budget Bill for 2018 is based on an agreement between the government parties and the Left Party.

To enhance artistic freedom throughout the country, the Government proposes an investment totalling SEK 115 million per year in the Budget Bill for 2018. This investment represents an increase of the grants and remunerations allocated directly to artists, independent performing arts groups and cultural publications.

Geneva, 29 June 2017. Check against delivery.

Op-ed by Swedish Minister of Culture and Democracy Alice Bah Kuhnke and Irina Bokova, UNESCO Director-General, Huffington Post 29 June 2017 The safety of journalists is deteriorating across the globe. Journalists and media workers are victims of censorship, pressure, threats, physical abuse, violent attacks or mortal violence. Tackling this challenge successfully calls for political will and intensified cooperation. We call on all governments to join UNESCO in a renewed and stronger commitment to defend freedom of expression.