The Public Art Agency has reviewed the contents of the report “Moderna – a new government agency for modern art, architecture and design Ds 2025:2” and read it with great interest.
There are both advantages and disadvantages to the proposal. In the new government agency, it will be central that the work of producing and acquiring public art, promoting contemporary art, strengthening art organisations and developing and spreading knowledge about contemporary and public art can be further developed in the long term. Two issues that are also of long-term significance are the name of the new agency, and the name of the department that the Public Art Agency is proposed to become part of.
One advantage that the proposal highlights is a stronger administrative department regarding issues such as IT, law, work environment and finance. The report also describes several of the risks that the Public Art Agency considers significant, such as:
“A risk with incorporation could be that the Public Art Agency could lose its identity, visibility and distinctiveness in a larger agency. Another risk could be that the Public Art Agency’s activities with art in public environments and collaboration with external parties are downgraded in favour of museum activities, as the Public Art Agency, unlike the Moderna Museet and ArkDes, is not a museum.”
The report will now be taken forward by the government and in a first step the Public Art Agency is awaiting a decision on whether a hearing will be held or whether there will be a consideration process.
You can read the full report on the government website
Top image: “Come as you are!” (2021) by Astrid Göransson. The artwork is a contemporary monument that highlights the first five female members of the Swedish Parliament and connects them with those who come after. The artwork is placed on Riksplan in front of the Eastern Wing of the Riksdag building in Stockholm, and the project is a collaboration between the Swedish Parliament and the Public Art Agency. Photo: Ricard Estay/Public Art Agency.