STARA - 14.11.2015, Síða 43

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In Norway, the Norwegian Visual
Artists Association (NBK) is respon-
sible for the welfare and interests
of its 2,900 members. Since 2008,
the society has campaigned for the
introduction of artist fees from pub-
licly funded art galleries, as well as
remuneration contacts between the
artist and the galleries in question.
As a result of pressure from the
NBK and affiliated societies, a pilot
programme was introduced in 2013
where artist’s fees were introduced
to a small number of galleries to
determine and create a model that
would be rolled out nationally. In
this programme, four museums
received NKO 2 million over a two
year period. In 2014 the budget for
the following year was increased
by NKO 2 million to NKO 4 mil-
lion, but extra eight museums were
added. This year saw the budget for
the pilot programme increased by a
further NKO 2 million, bringing the
total to 6 million (Or NKO 500,000
per gallery) over the next two years.
While this has been welcomed, more
can be done says Hilde Tørdal, a vis-
ual artist and president of the NBK.
“We don’t yet know if this proposal
will go through, as we currently
have a minority government in
charge,” she explains. “We also don’t
know if more museums are going to
be added.” The NBK, according to
Hilde, are looking to ensure that the
levels of funding and museums that
apply are kept steady for now. “We
hope that the amount of money will
at least stay in the same order when
the fee is to be rolled out across the
40 or so institutions across Norway.”
This autumn the NBK, along with
the Norwegian Art and crafts as-
sociation (NK), the Union of free
photographers (FFF), and the
Sámi Artists’ Union (SDS) began
a social media campaign for the
introduction of artist remuneration
contracts. With the slogan “Lønn
For Arbeid” (Trans; “Payment For
Work”) and the hashtag “utstill-
ingsavtalen” (Trans; “the exhibi-
tion agreement”), they campaigned
for the introduction of a standard
contract for exhibition fees that in-
cluded the existing payment agree-
ment with the state, and exhibition
expenses, while also seeking to raise
the budgets for those institutions
and galleries that signed up to use
the contract.
The success of the “Lønn For
Arbeid” campaign will continue in
2016 with the NBK are seeking to
roll out contract agreements at a
regional level, while also focusing
on increasing funding for medium
sized galleries for contemporary art
to enable them to take up the con-
tract model in the near future.
“In 2014 the budget for the following year was
increased by NKO 2 million to NKO 4 million,
but extra eight museums were added. This
year saw the budget for the pilot programme
increased by a further NKO 2 million”
Hilde Tørdal (1972) i s a Nor weg ian v i sual ar t i s t working mainly w ith s cu lpture , mix ed media and instal lat ion .
In 2001 she g raduated f rom Trondhe im Academy of Fine Ar t s and have s ince then been co l laborat ing w ith Bård
Tørdal . They are r unning interdi s c ip l inar y and of ten interac t ive projec t s w ithin ar t and robot ic s . Hi lde has
been the pres ident of the Nor weg ian Vi sual Ar t s Organizat ion , (NBK) , s ince 2013 .