S A M D O K • S V E N S K A K U L T U R H I S T O R I S K A M U S E E R I S A M A R B E T E SAMTID &museer No 2 2007. Volume 31.

Connecting Collecting 30 years of Samdok LEADER

& No 2, November 2007. Volume 31. Contents Towards extended Towards extended collaboration 2 Christina Mattsson collaboration A network for developing collecting and research 3 Eva Fägerborg By Christina Mattsson Reflecting collecting 4 Thirty years ago, the Swedish It is we museum employees who pass Eva Silvén » museums of cultural history judgement on what is to be remem- Updating Sweden – contemporary created the cooperative organization bered and what is to be forgotten, what perspectives on cultural encounters 6 Samdok to steer attention away from future generations should see. No other Leif Magnusson the old peasant society towards the rap- institutions take the responsibility for What’s it like at home? 8 idly changing industrial society. With preserving material culture. The muse- Mikael Eivergård and Johan Knutsson the aid of Samdok, the museums would ums’ collecting work is also significant Leisure as a mirror of society 10 describe the entire transition from self- for today’s people, by observing and Marie Nyberg and Christine Fredriksen sufficiency to the information society, participating in contemporary proc- Between preservation and change – the perhaps the most dramatic period in esses. built environment as a mirror of the times 12 the life of individuals in Sweden – the Museums in different parts of the Barbro Mellander and Anna Ulfstrand time when people experienced more world have similar missions, and our Nature – an exploited heritage 14 changes in their living conditions than problems are in general the same. This Ann-Katrin Wahss and Eva Gradin any previous generation. also applies to the exploration of our People at work 16 Samdok has also argued over the own times, the investigation of things Charlotte Åkerman, Carin Andersson, and Ann Kristin Carlström years for a more problem-oriented that we ourselves can see and experi- way of working, studying the present ence. Documenting the present has its Public institutions in change 18 Eva Thunér-Ohlsson and Kristina Stolt day to arrive at descriptions of social special questions, and international and cultural processes. It is a matter of cooperation is necessary, particularly in In the midst of the world 20 such central contemporary issues as times when resources are scarce. Anne Murray and Eva Silvén work and unemployment, career and Samdok is a shared resource for Images of contemporary Sweden 22 exclusion, new technology and new museums in Sweden, and the task of knowledge requirements, racism and the Nordiska Museet as the country’s ISSN 1402-3512 xenophobia, and so on. The aim is to biggest museum of cultural history is Published by Samdok, an association of Swedish museums foster continuous research on everyday to give stability to the organization. We of cultural history devoted to collecting, documenting, and Swedish life. now hope that an international forum studying the present day. Collecting is possibly an even more for dialogue and collaboration on col- EDITED BY Eva Fägerborg burning issue now than when Samdok lection matters can be established. The RESPONSIBLE EDITOR Christina Mattsson was started. The museums’ sphere of aim of this autumn’s conference is to COPYRIGHT Text: Samdok/Nordiska Museet and the authors. operation has grown, so that the scope create a platform for continued work Illustrations: The respective photographer/picture archive. Opinions are those of the authors. Unsigned contributions today is enormous. Visitor statistics along these lines, preferably on the are by the editor. and priority goals tend to become more foundation of the experience gained by COVER PICTURE Members of several Samdok pools at the important than the actual collecting. Samdok, the network for contemporary foot of ”Potato Hill” in Ammarnäs during the field seminar in Outreaching work takes over and the studies that has functioned for three August 2007. Photo Petter Engman, Västerbotten Museum. collections risk being neglected. Yet the decades. p NEXT ISSUE will appear in May 2008 collections are the very foundation of DESIGN underhuset.com ENGLISH TRANSLATION Alan Crozier the museums’ work. Christina Mattsson is director of the Nordiska PRINTED BY Ljungbergs, Klippan The museums play an immensely Museet and chair of the Samdok Council SAMDOKSEKRETARIATET important role as a collective memory. [email protected] Nordiska museet Box 27820 SE-115 93 Stockholm Tel +46 8 519 546 00 Fax +46 8 5195 45 72 [email protected] 2 • Samtid & museer no 2/07 nordiskamuseet.se/samdok Connecting Collecting X 30 years of Samdok

a taken-for-granted local, regional, or national connection, collecting must be problematized in A network for developing new ways, in relation to the world and the cir- cumstances in which the museums act. Here we collecting and research are facing a common challenge. New conditions, scientific and ethical considerations have conse- By Eva Fägerborg quences for collecting policies and practices, for the cultural heritage that the museums produce. For thirty years, Swedish museums of cultural history have It is becoming increasingly urgent to pursue in- ternational dialogue and collaboration to learn ex­plored contemporary society within the framework of Samdok, about each other’s views, methods, and experi- the museums’ network for contemporary studies and collecting. ences. In the Nordic countries we have formed the Norsam network and we know the value of This issue of our periodical Samtid & museer (“The Present Day & this kind of exchange. Museums”) is intended as an up-to-date presentation of Samdok’s Samdok’s anniversary conference 2007 work for an international readership. The international perspective is the theme of this year’s major Samdok event, the conference When Samdok was established, the focus consists of representatives of national, county, Connecting Collecting, to be held at the Nord- on contemporary collecting, both nation- and municipal museums. The Nordiska Museet’s iska Museet on 15–16 November with financial ally» and internationally, broke with traditional research council is now also Samdok’s scientific support from the Bank of Sweden Tercenten­ views of what museums should be concerned council. ary Foundation. The aim of the conference is to with. The basic tasks of cooperation in studying In Samtid & museer (1977–96 under the create the international forum for knowledge present-day life and collecting present-day arte- ­title Samdokbulletinen) one can follow Samdok’s development and collaboration that has hitherto facts remain. In the course of time Samdok has work and read about ongoing investigations, been lacking when it comes to collecting issues. also become a forum for scholarly discussions on current research, methodological and theoretical In ICOM there are committees for the manage- contemporary culture and society, a forum for issues. The periodical reaches a wide audience ment of museum collections, but there is none professional development and further education and is a link between the museums and other devoted to the considerations governing the sup- where we can share experiences of the empiri- sectors of society. It appears twice a year, cover- ply of material to the collections. We hope that cal, methodological and theoretical dimensions ing varying themes. Regular features along- the conference will be the starting point for an of the creation of the publicly managed and pre- side the theme articles are researchers’ diaries, international network which can then be devel- served cultural heritage. presentation of new publications, and the pools’ oped into a new ICOM committee on collecting columns where they bring up topical issues for – an issue of concern for the future of museums Organization and working methods the members. in all countries. p The online database Samdokregistret Samdok currently has about eighty members: Eva Fägerborg is in charge of the Samdok county museums, central museums, municipal presents investigations which have been done at secretariat at the Nordiska Museet, museums, and specialist museums, along with the member museums and reported to the secre- [email protected] some other institutions. The members cooperate tariat. It contains details of the subjects and phe- in working groups (pools), and the core of the nomena that have been studied, questions and Samdok work is the studies and collection car- problems, when, where, and by whom the stud- ried on in the pools by the respective museums. ies were conducted, the types of material they The work is supported by the Samdok Secretar- generated, and how they have been presented Connecting Collecting X 30 years of Samdok iat, the Samdok Council, and Samdok’s research and published. The source material is kept at the council. respective museums. The pool system has become Samdok’s Major joint seminars, conferences, and perhaps best-known characteristic. The origi- courses are arranged by the secretariat. Autumn nal twelve groups are now eight: The group for conferences in recent years have been devoted to » Cultural Encounters, the pools for Domestic Life, various aspects of collecting – from the scrutiny In this issue Leisure, Local and Regional Spheres, Management of policy documents to discussions about the Since the periodical this time is intended to of Natural Resources, Manufacture and Services, role of artefacts and the museums’ contemporary give an overview of Samdok today, it is ar- Sami Life, and Society and Politics. studies in a societal perspective. ranged in a different way from usual, besides being published in English. This introduc- In recent years the pools have formulated International collaboration new guidelines/policy statements to support tion is followed by a summary of two projects their work. The questions, perspectives, and for the future conducted in recent years. The major part is methods currently being used are described in Questions arising today are how museums of taken up with articles where the pools them- the following articles. cultural and social history can and should study selves present their work. At the end we show The Samdok Secretariat is located at and and collect the global society. This applies both pictures of contemporary Sweden, in a spread financed by the Nordiska Museet. As the admin- to newly established museums and those which with examples of museums’ photo documen- istrative hub of the network it is responsible for manage and expand on collections created in tation. development work, information, and adminis- earlier ideological and scientific contexts. When tration. The decision-making Samdok Council the concept of cultural heritage no longer has

Samtid & museer no 2/07 • 3 Connecting Collecting X 30 years of Samdok

Reflecting collecting

By Eva Silvén What knowledge have museum professionals created about Museums not only document late twentieth-century society? What has been included, » what happens, they also cre- what has been marginalized? Two recent projects illustrate ate memory and meaning, through the processes of defining and preserving the importance of analysis, self-reflection and methodolo- heritage. During Samdok’s thirty years gical development, with the aim of increasing the museums’ of existence, the member museums have ­relevance in today’s society. contributed to shaping the testimonies to the history of the late 20th century. The work has recently been revised in choice of topics, questions, methods, ac- tests. One of the studies was conducted two projects, both published last year. tivities and results. The overall aim was by a group of students of museology The projects have followed the same to reveal the significance of the muse- under the supervision of their course procedure as other Samdok studies: col- ums and their staff for the construction leader. The other six were carried out laboration between different museums of cultural heritage, thus increasing their by museum curators in a collaborative and between museums and scholars at professional self-insight, improving their dialogue with researchers from uni- universities and colleges, together with working methods, and broadening the versities and colleges, who took part in references to people outside the aca- museums’ interpretation of their public seminars and meetings, in the process- demic world. assignment. ing of research findings, and revision of Like Samdok as a whole, the project manuscripts. The present day as cultural heritage involved different kinds of museums. Together all the parts of the project From the 1970s, the Swedish museums Seven studies illuminate the work at as paint a picture of the Swedish museums’ of cultural history have continuously many museums spread all over Sweden. contemporary studies and the condi- conducted studies of everyday life and Four other studies thematically describe tions in which they have taken place. its changes. They constitute an extensive how museums document the present. They show that Samdok’s influence has material, shaped by a professional group Two of these analyse the activities from varied, that belonging to a working with great influence: museum staff. perspectives such as work and cultural group (pool) has to a greater or lesser Through their work, they have devel- encounters, while a third considers the extent been the basis for the individual oped norms, rules, and ways of thinking, Samdok network from an international museum’s choice of topics and problems mechanisms which still are active today. point of view. A fourth study discusses for its projects. But in each case the mu- Samdok has played an important part in contemporary studies from a more per- seums have been forced to balance other this as a driving force and inspiration, sonal angle. interests as well – external collaborators, but also as a discursive formation. principals and financiers, the museum’s The purpose of the project The pre- Collaborative dialogues own plans and programmes. Despite sent day as cultural heritage: Contempo- The project did not just focus on the Samdok’s original emphasis on systema- rary documentation by Swedish museums conditions for and results of the muse- tism, coordination, and comparability, it 1975–2000 was to analyse the museums’ ums’ activity. The seven museum studies turns out that there was great scope for contemporary studies as regards the have also involved some methodological museum officials to set their own stamp on the studies. The Magnusson The project reveals that during the ­family from Töreboda, period the general aim of Samdok has Västergötland, in shifted from accumulating material for their former kitchen, the future to an increased interest in acquired by the Nordiska Museet and participating in contemporary processes exhibited in 1991. and giving a voice to people in different Photo Birgit Brånvall, positions. This raises a number of ethi-  Nordiska Museet. cal considerations which have to do with both representation and preferential right of interpretation.

4 • Samtid & museer no 2/07 Connecting Collecting X 30 years of Samdok

The Difficult Matters trailer visiting the city of Norrköping, December 1999. Photo Mats Brunander, Riksutställningar.

relevance on the agenda, for example regarding issues such as the recording of catastrophes and major traumas. We editors believe that museums, as public institutions, not only have a moral obli- gation in these processes, but also an op- portunity, through the authority and the serious purpose that is usually associated with them. Another part of the current debate is constituted by the postcolonial issues of Difficult matters visitors were documented, from long representation and repatriation. Today, In a parallel project such issues have accounts with photographs of physical no museum can ignore questions such been treated with the focus on arte- objects to short recollections and com- as: Which people and phenomena are facts with some kind of problematic ments. represented in collections, exhibitions, history: Difficult matters: Objects and and other forms of cultural heritage? narratives that disturb and affect. This A useful tool How can emotionally fraught issues be started from the reflection on whether Of course, “difficulty” is not just some- tackled? How can evil be involved – in the museums’ collecting really gave a thing that exists; it is contextually con- particular the great crimes of history, full account of post-war Sweden, with ditioned and not always obvious. It is both yesterday and today? It has become both the light and the dark sides of life. rarely a matter of a special history along- impossible to speak about cultural her­ There seemed to be gaps in the artefact- side the “ordinary”; difficulty is an aspect itage without simultaneously asking the based cultural heritage. Who dared to of all history writing. From this starting question: Which heritage? Whose? Both look for problems in seemingly innocent point, the task of defining what is dif- projects, The present day as cultural her- things? Who saved objects that testified ficult, what disturbs and affects, was left itage and Difficult matters, demonstrate to the unmentionable and obscene, to to the museums and the visitors. Their the necessity for museum professionals what was dirty, disgusting or politically contributions therefore shed light on to continuously reflect upon what they dangerous? Could those who manage what is both individually and collectively are doing, and what the consequences our cultural heritage conceive of also difficult, and also the span between what are, for today and for the future. p preserving the memory of tabooed and is obviously difficult and what seems Eva Silvén is curator at the Nordiska Museet, offensive things? It was time to examine harmless. Such perspectives give the ob- [email protected] the museums’ collecting from an angle jects a justifying ambiguity, that other- that is not usually covered by activity wise seems to disappear in the museums’ plans and policy statements. factual descriptions. References Initially we editors aimed at a book, The result of this tour was ­published Silvén, Eva & Gudmundsson, Magnus, eds. but underway the project became more last year, a selection of 100 objects and Samtiden som kulturarv: Svenska museers comprehensive. Together with Riksut- narratives, from museums as well as samtidsdokumentation 1975–2000. Stockholm: ställningar (The Swedish Travelling Ex- visitors. The book’s introduction gives a Nordiska Museet 2006. / The present day as hibitions) a mobile exhibition, or a field thorough presentation of the project as a cultural heritage: Contemporary documentation by Swedish museums 1975–2000. With an station, was built in a trailer that crossed whole, including theoretical, methodo- extensive introduction and summary in English. Sweden for almost ten months. In the logical and ethical considerations from a Silvén, Eva & Björklund, Anders, eds. Svåra trailer there was room for 54 objects series of seminars and other discussions. saker: Ting och berättelser som upprör och berör. from the same number of museums, The project has also interested colleagues Stockholm: Nordiska Museet 2006. / Difficult each with a text about its background outside Sweden, and it soon became a matters: Objects and narratives that disturb and history. The exhibition was on show part of the current debate on museums and affect. With an extensive introduction in in 27 places, where visitors were invited and memories. The concept of “difficult” English. to contribute their own things and stor­ appeared to be a useful tool to put the The titles can be ordered from the Nordiska ies. In all, narratives from just over 300 question of the museums’ contemporary Museet: [email protected]

Samtid & museer no 2/07 • 5 The Cultural Encounters Group

It is time for diversity in Sweden. Cultural encounters and migration­ are highly topical issues in society, and hence for museums too. The Cultural Encounters Group focuses on how the cultural encounters perspective is applied in the practical work. Updating Sweden By Leif Magnusson contemporary perspectives on cultural encounters

The situation analysis published globalization, there is a bad side that history and social life”, we see the work » by the National Council for Cul- clearly involves the social and cultural in a broader context. That is our point of tural Affairs in 2005 shows that muse- issues. departure. ums in general have both the readiness and the ambition to work with the diver- A harsher social climate More than ethnicity sity issue. In the appendix to the analysis What does this negative side consist of? The cultural encounter perspective as a it is noted that the museums tackle this If we look at our neighbours Denmark theoretical point of departure has been task in a great variety of ways. The focus and Norway, we see that the politi- discussed since the group was founded can be on the position of national mino- cal map has been redrawn in order to in 1993. The discussion has been lively rities, on cultural phenomena connected preserve the national community when and has had the result that the group’s with immigration or its consequences. the global pressure has squeezed the programme has been revised several International contacts also seem to be strength out of the national power struc- times. Museums which have taken part increasing as a result of European in- tures. One effect of this is that pressure in the work over the years have had dif- tegration or via the interest in national increases on the definitions of people’s ferent purposes and goals for their par- museum collections around the world. status. Who belongs to the national ticipation. There has been a willingness On the other hand, it is more unusu- community? When can one join, and to bring in issues that have the emphasis al that museums in their exhibitions re- how? Individuals are far too simply and on other power factors than ethnicity flect on the fact that cultural encounters lightly assigned to ethnic categories, when it comes to describing migration are a natural ingredient in all cultures, or which risks creating second-class citi- and links to origin and place. Power fac- that the museums consider how the col- zens in the Nordic societies. The prob- tors such as gender, generation, sexual- lections exemplify this. lem also exists in Sweden, but here it is ity, and class are always considered au- Similar ideas can be found in my handled differently because – compared tomatically when studies are performed. article on “Immigration, Cultural En- to our Nordic neighbours – we have It is easy enough to write this, but it is counters, Ethnicity” in Samtiden som reacted more weakly to the counter- a tricky task, requiring competent and kulturarv. Svenska museers samtidsdo- ­reaction that globalization creates in any well-trained staff. The ongoing discus- kumentation 1975–2000. (2006). The nation state. However, in Sweden there sion in the Cultural Encounters Group is museums that were working with the is no shortage of signs of a harsher social intended to test and identify research in issue then mainly focused on a kind of climate as regards diversity. the field of International Migration and monographic perspective intended to Museums that work with the present Ethnic Relations (IMER), post-coloni- single out ethnic groups and immigrant day as cultural history are dependent alism, and the museological discussion groups. This tendency to search for dis- on the prevailing climate of political tinctions has been criticized, and there opinion. When we in the Cultural En- is a constant quest for more dynamic counters Group write in our action pro- models. This is very important, since our gramme that our work has a clear ori- society has to balance the pressure of entation to cultural policy, through the globalization, both the positive and the outlook that “documenting the present negative consequences. If increased mo- at Swedish museums is about seeing bility for people, knowledge, and money cultural encounters and migration as an is allowed to represent the good side of indissoluble part of Sweden’s cultural

6 • Samtid & museer no 2/07 The Cultural Encounters Group

From projects carried out by the Multi­ cultural Centre, Botkyrka. Photo Andrzej Markiewicz ©Multicultural Centre.

Updating Sweden contemporary perspectives on cultural encounters

of integration and cultural heritage. In counters. Each member of the Cultural a matter of returning to collections with concrete terms, this means that research- Encounters Group acts as contact per- new questions and perspectives. It is a ers are invited to the group, where each son for a pool. Originally this mostly matter of connecting the present with meeting includes reading and discus- involved highlighting cultural encounter the past so that new Swedes have an op- sion of texts. The group has also started issues and getting these into the action portunity to understand the oddities and an international exchange of experience programmes of the pools. This task has traditions that have constituted Swed- with museums and organizations work- been accomplished, but the step of find- ishness. It is a matter of writing new ing with cultural encounter issues, and ing fields of study, formulating impor- pages in the unfinished biography of the in autumn 2006 we had a study trip to tant questions and seeking relevance in national project that is Sweden. It is a Glasgow to meet colleagues. the work of the pools is a constant item matter of not dismissing the boundary- on the agenda. crossing and hybrid social and cultural Theme and network When the Cultural Encounters everyday life in which people live. This In recent years the Cultural Encounters Group was formed, an active stance work requires a cultural encounter per- Group has worked with the theme of was taken to ensure that issues concer- spective which can capture pictures of “Rites and Places of Death in Multicul- ning immigration (there was no talk of today’s complexity. Finally, we must tural Sweden”. A special network was es- integration in 1993) should affect every continue to document the present in tablished around the theme, coordinated sphere of society, every place and indivi- museums. This is the method that links by the Multicultural Centre. The work dual. This was an important aim which different eras with the collections. It is was carried on for several years, with was ahead of the way people thought gratifying that we have more museums seminars in different parts of Sweden. In at the time. In 1997 the government today that are interested in these issues, addition, Samdok held a method course introduced similar goals in the integra- and this is a sign that augurs well for the geared to the theme. The network con- tion policy that we know today. In other issues themselves and for Samdok. p sisted of the Cultural Encounters Group words, Samdok and the museums were Leif Magnusson is director of the Multicultural and interested parties from museums, thinking ahead of their time then – but Centre and former chair of the Cultural universities, and others concerned with what is the situation today? Encounters Group the issue. Apart from the seminars there [email protected] were some small-scale studies under- Updating on all fronts taken at different museums and a major The call to “Update Sweden” means that Reference exhibition by the Multicultural Centre, Swedishness can appear in many dif- And Then? – An Exhibition about Death. ferent ways. The challenge for those of Magnusson, Leif. “Invandring, kulturmöten, The network and its work have also been us who work with the present day is to etnicititet.” In: Silvén, Eva & Gudmundsson, Magnus, eds. Samtiden som kulturarv: Svenska presented in a theme issue of Samtid & include and establish a contemporary museers samtidsdokumentation 1975–2000. museer. Swedish self-understanding in a cul- Stockholm: Nordiska Museet 2006. / The The Cultural Encounters Group also tural-history paradigm. It is a matter of present day as cultural heritage: Contemporary carries on a continuous dialogue with building on the Swedish cultural ­heritage documentation by Swedish museums other Samdok pools about cultural en- – both material and non-material. It is 1975–2000.

Samtid & museer no 2/07 • 7 The Pool for Domestic Life

What’s it like at home?

By Mikael Eivergård and Johan Knutsson We live in a constantly changing » and in several respects culturally heterogeneous and pluralist society to- day, as expressed in a number of differ- ent contexts. One of these contexts is the home. The home is also one of the tradi- tional core interests of museums of cul- tural history. Most museums have col- lections that are connected in one way or another to the domestic sphere. There is thus a continuity on which to build, so that contemporary studies can be placed in a “here and now” and also be related to the long temporal perspective that is one of the hallmarks of museums of cul- tural history. A culturally charged place A home is a place charged with culture. In a limited area we can be confronted with and explore today’s social and cul- tural diversity. The home is also one of the few places where everyone – within certain limits – can influence their physical en- vironment. Shaping the home material- izes a multitude of ideas, identities, and The Corridor. Photo © Viveca Ohlsson, Kulturen, Lund. values. It is a physical place but also an expression of ideas about social organi- but also a feeling. In today’s society ums in the Pool for Domestic Life these zation; what people belong so closely to- there are many kinds of homes; people problems and perspectives are of vital gether that they can share a home? live in rented flats, terraced houses, de- significance when we explore more pre- According to traditional Swedish tached houses, student halls of residence, cise and concrete aspects of contempo- norms, a home is ideally shared by one health-care institutions, night shelters, rary domestic life in separate studies at family, which in turn consists of differ- or refugee centres. Others have no home the respective museums or in joint semi- ent sexes (man and woman) and two at all – homelessness is a reality. Domes- nars and short field studies. generations (parents and children), who tic life also displays a multitude of family are expected to share a class background constellations; alongside the traditional The Corridor and ethnic affiliation. Departures from nuclear family there are many different When Kulturen in Lund focused a few this norm are frequently problematized forms of cohabitation, and the number years ago on life in halls of residence, or and designated in terms of mixed mar- of people living on their own is also “student corridors” as they are called, riage, single-living, homo family, etc. growing. this was a study of a temporary home One point of departure for the work This diversity offers museums a field shared with other people for whom it of the pool is to view the home as a kind of study that gives access to a number of was equally temporary. How do students of concentrate of the social and cultur- relevant social issues covering every- turn a ready-furnished room on a cor- al diversity that is typical of our time. thing from lifestyle, cultural encounters, ridor into a home? This project set out to Home is a culturally charged word that and consumption to questions of class, document and collect material resulting is full of ambiguity. Home can be a place, generation, and gender. For the muse- in an exhibition, The Corridor. It dealt

8 • Samtid & museer no 2/07 The Pool for Domestic Life

What kind of life is lived behind the door in the suburbs, in a residential area, or in a small village in the remote forest? And what does it look like inside? The task of the Pool for Domestic Life is to explore and document people’s homes and domestic life in contemporary Sweden from different perspectives.

with the way we create a sense of home yourself are combined with ideas about in a different environment, the hall of a special place in the home where one residence, examining attitudes to hous- can wind down and prepare to wind up ing and visions of the future. The project again. With the bathroom study we also received financial support from the stu- wanted to illuminate the polarization dent housing company AF Bostäder in between the dream images of marketing Lund, to mark its 50th anniversary in and the factual circumstances of reality. 2004. In the bathroom it is not just a mat- The participating museums carry out ter of changing the fixtures but perhaps many projects like The Corridor, based above all of giving the little space new on the conditions and needs of the in- functions. At least in advertising, the dividual museum, and not infrequently bathroom is represented as being simul- with external finance. In these contexts taneously a place for display to visitors Refugee centre in Bräcke. Photo Björn Os- the Samdok organization plays a cru- and a place to which you can retreat and karsson© Jämtland County Museum cial part, as support and as a sounding relax, to devote some time to yourself board. after an active day. The advertisements frequently talk about the bathroom in ceived as stable institutions. When the Consuming a home terms of “a spa of your own”, and the construction of the modern welfare A theme that has been in the foreground reader is confronted with pictures of state took shape in the post-war years, for the work of the pool in recent years is fresh-looking people wrapped in big the home, with the nuclear family as the home in the post-modern consumer white towels, chatting on the edge of the the foundation of society, was one of society. This is an interest we share with bathtub. the places where the political ambitions the Pool for Leisure, which is why the When regarded in a slightly broader had their most palpable expression. two pools have had a number of joint perspective, the transformation of Swed- ­Rationalization was to be achieved here, meetings and field seminars. Creating ish bathrooms is about how the new good habits were to be implemented, and choosing, two of the “duties” of the consumerism contributes to changing and breaches of norms were to be com­ consumer society, are equally relevant the content and meaning of the home. bated. Today the home and the family for questions of domestic life and leisure, On the one hand, it is virtually a citizen’s are phenomena that can be described as and thus served as the point of departure duty today to consume, and possible and a throng of constellations and variations for two small-scale studies. obligatory changes of the home are one of a cultural, social, ethnic, and sexual A year ago it was about IKEA. Al- of the strongest incentives for the indi- kind that teach us through their very ex- together the field studies in an IKEA vidual’s consumption. At the same time, istence that what we tend to perceive as store in Gothenburg gave a multifaceted and this may seem paradoxical, this the solidity of existence is in fact charac- picture of what steers people’s purchases mass consumption gives the individual terized, if not by fragility, then at least by and choices. Trends in interior decora- the possibility to shape the home exactly constant change. That is why the home tion and lifestyle, people’s views of the as he or she wants it. The home becomes is also a culture-producing space of the home and its individual design were a space for display, where not only a greatest importance for museums orien- mixed with insights into shopping as a person’s social position but also, and ted to the present day. p leisure pursuit. perhaps especially, personal identity and Mikael Eivergård was formerly head antiquarian The bathroom as a place for enjoy- preferences are expected to take shape. at Jämtland County Museum and chair of ment, practical functions, and interior the Pool for Domestic Life and is now public design aesthetics was the theme of this Changeable homes health planning officer at The Swedish National spring’s joint effort, with field studies in It is at the interface between the pri- Institute of Public Health, shops, departments stores, and homes in vate home and the social and cultural [email protected] Malmö and Lund. Bathroom makeovers circumstances that the Pool for Domes- Johan Knutsson is curator at the Nordiska are the latest trend in interior decora- tic Life has its field of operation. The Museet and secretary of the Pool for Domestic tion. Here consumption and do-it- home, and the family, are often per- Life, [email protected]

Samtid & museer no 2/07 • 9 The Pool for Leisure

Leisure as a mirror of society

The Pool for Leisure works with matters concerning people’s free time. By questioning and deconstructing leisure as a concept and a phenomenon we can investigate changes that take place in society and affect the individual. Leisure should also be considered from the perspective of power, which includes gender, ethnicity, class, and generation.

By Marie Nyberg and Christine Fredriksen A basic perspective for the work ter people or things, and time devoted » of the pool is that leisure reflects to special activities. Leisure can also be conditions in society. We are interested time that is not at all free, with a lot of in both publicly organized and individu- musts and scheduled activities. ally shaped leisure, the commercializa- Other terms that have been intro- tion of the leisure sphere and the grow- duced in recent years are “time-rich” and ing experience industry. Is post-modern “time-poor”. Time-rich people are most- leisure different, and more of a lifestyle ly unemployed, sick-listed, and retired, than before? But how then does leisure in other words, groups who have a lot of function for the unemployed, for sick- time but are not in gainful employment, listed people, children, and pension­ers? and therefore do not have so much “Leisure, for me that means woolly hats, How do women’s leisure activities differ money. Time-poor people have little free anoraks and Elasta pants, and the whole family out in the car to drive off on some from those of men? Does everyone have time outside their salaried work but they excursion… You’re supposed to be active. leisure? have a lot of money to spend. Or else it’s the youth leisure centre and that Leisure in the form of self-chosen meant drinking spirits, beer, and smoking What is leisure? and pleasurable activities or non-activ- cigarettes, at the age of twelve or so. So I Leisure often used to be regarded as the ities can perhaps only be defined by the hardly ever use the word leisure, I’ve discov- opposite of work, but the concept of lei- individual based on personal experience. ered. I say I’m free”, says Katinka, priest, sure is more complex than that. Work Leisure can thus be regarded as an arena aged 47. Photo Unni Randin-Stranne. need no longer be the same as gainful for self-fulfilment. employment, and time free of work need not be leisure. Investigating leisure re- Expanding leisure ing and taking an increasing amount quires a multifaceted view of how people In recent studies by the pool, the concept of time and place. The arenas of leisure use their time. Leisure is a good point of of leisure has been linked to aspirations show who we are. In the arena of creativ- access for studying the present day since for life and meaningfulness, the creation ity, we design and furnish our homes, it is constantly being renegotiated and of identity and the good life. The good and in the arena of entertainment, where filled with new meanings. life as a concept has become widespread television is still number one, there is an One way to regard leisure is to di- today, used both by commercial interests ever-increasing range on offer. Active vide it into more or less free time. Where and by public society. Communication, performance of leisure competes with does the boundary go, for example, be- health, consumption of culture, and the passive reception of leisure. tween leisure activities and work in the shopping are all elements that are sup- home? Nowadays people sometimes talk posed to contribute to creating the good “Doing Samdok” about adjustment time, maintenance life. This applies to the rich part of the The pool consists of museums with dif- time, and quality time to designate time world… ferent orientations, which gives the work for changing focus, time for looking af- At the same time, leisure is expand- a great breadth. An important part of

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Leisure = spare time? Leisure life = lifestyle? Leisure ideals – for whom?

the pool’s joint work is intended to raise presented in theatrical performances town, and to find out through a ques- the level of activity among members by and exhibitions and a book has been tionnaire sent to all the owners how sustaining discussions and serving as a published to which young people con- they use their rooms today. Three major resource in ongoing work. Each member tributed their narratives and thoughts events are held annually in Bonnstan, all museum does studies in its own home about identity and identity creation. of which attract thousands of visitors. ground, but the pool’s meetings are a The rest of the time the place offers op- possibility to ventilate and problematize Meaningfulness – the good life portunities for relaxation, and the rooms their own studies. To elaborate on issues Who is able to enjoy the good life? In the are mainly used as meeting places for of a theoretical and methodological cha- project Just Like Rock and Roll, Gothen- relatives and friends, bringing picnic racter, we invite external lecturers and burg City Museum followed dancing baskets or holding parties to eat fer- hold joint field seminars. The pool seeks couples at Träffendansen in Kungälv. mented herring. dialogue not just with colleagues and re- Here disabled and mentally retarded searchers; just as important is the dialo- people meet once a month and dance to Questions for the future gue with the general public. The Pool for live bands. A freshly qualified sociolo- Sweden today is a country with several Leisure also collaborates with the Pool gist and a photographer in training were different cultural identities – the tradi- for Domestic Life. present at a number of dances. They tional Swedish leisure life is not a matter Work within Samdok is a way for photographed and interviewed the par- of course for new Swedes with a different museums to collect contemporary nar- ticipants about their views of dancing, view of leisure. Taken-for-granted sym- ratives, photographs, and artefacts in a socializing, and how to find a partner. bols of leisure such as the holiday cot- thoroughly considered way. It is there- Why do they find dancing so much fun? tage, the evening class, and strolls in the fore an important part of the museums’ The aim was to bring out the pleasure countryside may be totally alien to many present-day collecting work. Much of and strength in a group that is otherwise people. The well-organized leisure that is the material is used in exhibitions, pro- weak in the eyes of society. The project provided with public support is perhaps grammes, and publications, thus making resulted in an exhibition, and many not something that everyone wants to use of the collected material and obtain- ­disabled people visited the museum for take part in. ing resources for continued work. the first time with pleasure, but other Other questions that the pool The pool’s member museums have visitors too felt pleasure (especially a should take up are who works to give recently worked on projects to do with group of Japanese tourists who were us “the good life”. What potential – in topical social issues and themes con- highly stimulated). money and time – do they have for cerning people on a personal level: rewarding leisure time? The Western An arena for entertainment or world with its quest for meaningful- Identity and its creation creativity? The church town as a ness and experiences is contrasted with The project Young People in a Border cultural experience what can be called leisure in other parts District, which Bohuslän Museum con- In northern Sweden the churches were of the world. The different perspectives ducted 2004–2006, is a Swedish-Nor- surrounded by houses where church- that characterize the view of leisure are wegian collaboration between muse- goers could spend the night. The long important to bear in mind as the pool ums, folk high schools, and the Norden distances that people had to travel to get plans new studies and projects. It would ­Association (project Interreg III A to church were one of the reasons for the be fascinating to compare the practice of ­Sverige–Norge). The theme was youth growth of these “church towns”. But how leisure in Sweden with leisure in other and identity, border issues and conflict are the church towns used today? The cultures. p management. What is Swedish and what one in Skellefteå, known as Bonnstan or Marie Nyberg is curator at Gothenburg City is Norwegian? What significance does “Farmertown”, is ranked as Västerbot- Museum and chair of the Pool for Leisure the border have in today’s mobile soci- ten’s most genuine church town and was [email protected] ety? The project marked the centennial once of great significance for social life. of the break-up of the union between Today it consists of 116 houses with 392 Christie Fredriksen is antiquarian at Bohuslän Sweden and Norway in 1905, and sought rooms which are privately owned. The Museum, [email protected] to examine how young people meet over aim of Skellefteå Museum’s study is to the border today. The results have been record contemporary life in a church

Samtid & museer no 2/07 • 11 The Pool for Local and Regional Spheres Between preservation and chan ge

What traces do societal management that the museum drew up, to examine how local history is present- changes leave on the physi- ed in it and used in the selection of sites cal environment? That is that are considered worthy of preser- the overall question asked vation. It turned out that the descrip- tions were free of conflict and poor in by the Pool for Local and non-material traces. The programme’s Regional Spheres. The pool assessments of the different sites centred has become an important around three main themes: the unique, the typical, and the aesthetically pleas- forum where participants can ing. Sites that were well-preserved and present ideas for projects, untouched by change were given the ongoing work, and results for highest status in the programme, which means that narratives about how people shared discussions. have used the sites have in many cases By Barbro Mellander been rendered invisible. and Anna Ulfstrand The Big City Project – assembling In the 1970s the museums began knowledge about post-war building » to work with cultural heritage The pool began its work at roughly the management, that is to say, they took same time as the project The Architec- part in community planning by identify- ture and Cultural Environment of the ing physical environments that are worth Big City was launched, partly funded by caring and preserving. That work was the National Heritage Board. The aim often done separately from the museum of the project was to develop work with work with ethnology and cultural histo- the built environment, especially in the ry, which in turn meant that the physical suburbs of the big cities built after 1945. sites were reduced to mere physical sites Several of the pool members from local, The welfare state is materialized. In the study of Bromöl- and their links to non-material cultural regional, and national museums and two la the Regional Museum and the director of museums and historical values disappeared. One university departments worked on the and sites in Skåne looked for the stories that buildings of the pool’s most important tasks has project, and the project’s questions about can tell about a community in development and change. therefore been to serve as a forum where preservation and the user’s perspective Photo: Ulla-Carin Ekblom©Regionmuseet Kristianstad. these two perspectives can be reconnect- were the theme of one of our first pool ed, as well as a place where scholars and meetings in Gothenburg. practitioners can meet. At this time the Swedish Museum of Another aspect is that the museums Architecture started an interview study built up around, and depending on, large have a dual role when working both with many of the architects and plan- dominant industrial companies. The to build up knowledge and to perform ners whose work was mostly done in Regional Museum and the director of cultural and historic valuations. Since the 1950s–1970s, and who had exerted museums and sites in Skåne carried out this is interesting from a museological a great influence on how Sweden was a methodological study in the industrial perspective, the pool has included in its planned and built. They also interviewed community of Bromölla to find out what policy statement the task of scrutinizing some of the people who had written the material expressions of a modern the selection criteria that serve as a basis about the housing issue during the pe- industrial society can say about post-war for preservation. Questions that can then riod. political, economic, and social changes. be asked are, for example, whose cultural They also wanted to test new methods in heritage we preserve for the future and Bromölla and Södertälje – the the study of the built environment. The for whom it is preserved. welfare state materialized work did not proceed from the traditio- From this perspective Stockholm Modern industrial society has also been nal questions asked in cultural heritage County Museum has examined the mu- a theme of the pool’s work. Two major management, which are often concerned nicipal programme for cultural heritage projects have dealt with communities with the authenticity, representativeness,

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Between preservation and chan ge the built environment as a mirror of the times

as how inhabitants of Södertälje then changes in Götgatan happen simulta- and now have perceived the city and neously in several chronological layers its changes. Both the Bromölla and the and at different speeds. It is both rep- Södertälje studies also give a local per- resentative and specific, both general spective on the grand narrative of Swed- and unique to Stockholm. It is a part ish modernity. of a city and it is a local whole with a beginning and an end. The document- From group houses to detached ing team wanted to find methods that houses could shed light on changes in the street Another example of a study inspired by in the course of a day and night, as well the pool’s policy statement is Stockholm as more lasting phenomena. They used County Museum’s study of the Berghem different interview techniques: one fast housing estate in Järfälla municipality. A with short questions for passers-by and a buildings antiquarian and an ethnologist deeper one with some people for whom collaborated in a study of the area, which the street was their workplace. They when it was built at the end of the 1960s photographed, filmed, recorded street consisted of 142 identical houses of the noises, and made quick notes about what type known as “WP-villa”. Today most happened in the street. Posters and a of the houses have been transformed in number of artefacts were collected. The Petra is busy tearing down walls to create an different ways. Many have been painted group, which worked virtually round the open plan in the family’s newly purchased in other colours, some have been given clock during the week, hopes to be able house. Change was the key word when Stockholm County Museum documented new roofs or entrances. In this study the to return at regular intervals in order Berghem, which has developed in thirty-five questions concerned why the houses to collect material reflecting the street years from being a homogeneous to a het- had changed and what this can say about and changes in street life over a longer erogeneous housing estate. Photo: Elisabeth how society has changed in the forty period. Boogh, Stockholm County Museum. years that have passed since the first families moved in. The future of the pool To sum up, the pool has been both use- A street in Stockholm ful and pleasurable for those taking part and uniqueness of the buildings. Instead The pool’s policy statement also declares in it. Our questions have changed over they looked for the stories the buildings that an interesting topic is how place and the years, and when we revised our pol- tell about a society in development and identity interact. The starting point is icy statement a couple of years ago, we change. The project was carried out in that the concept of identity has changed noted that much of what we thought we dialogue with inhabitants of Bromölla, in late modern society, which means were alone in discussing during the first which gave the museum insight into that given positions and identities are in- years were questions that are now con- alternative ways of understanding and creasingly questioned. For our pool it is sidered important in the sector. We hope remembering buildings. of particular interest to see how identity in future to be able to assemble around Stockholm County Museum, togeth- seeking and identity formulation are re- joint projects where we can sharpen our er with Södertälje municipality and the lated to the spaces, or places, where this questions or perhaps ask completely new Stockholm County Administration, have is enacted. How, for example, do people questions as society changes. p been working for a couple of years with claim the public space? How are places the influence of the companies Scania affected by the individuals and groups Barbro Mellander is regional director of and Astra on housing in Södertälje. In who use them? museums and sites and head of Regionmuseet the post-war years the companies ex- Some of these questions recur in the Kristianstad and chair of the Pool for Local and panded vigorously, and being able to project Götgatan, which Stockholm City Regional Spheres, offer housing was a condition for the Museum conducted during one week in [email protected] potential to recruit both blue-collar and January 2003. The street is mentioned Anna Ulfstrand is ethnologist and photographer white-collar staff. The questions asked for the first time in 1494, and it has fol- at Stockholm County Museum and secretary of by the study concern the companies, the lowed roughly the same course since the pool for Local and Regional Spheres, municipality, and their relations, as well then. The point of departure was that [email protected]

Samtid & museer no 2/07 • 13 The Pool for Management of Natural Resources

Nature – an exploited heritage What do living conditions in a village in northern Sweden have in common with silos under threat of demolition in Västergötland? What links cultural tourism with the move of a whole town? The common denominator is how people use the resources provided by nature, the very preconditions for our survival – and the field studied by the Pool for Management of Natural Resources.

By Ann-Katrin Wahss and Eva Gradin The pool investigates and docu- summer the village comes to life, when » ments the use of nature in Sweden relatives return to the farms that are now – land, forest, water, and minerals. The holiday homes. work of the pool is closely connected to The study focused on how the vil- the times and the political decisions that lage has been shaped as a local cultural- affect us all. The Samdok studies illumi- environment system and was carried out nate how these decisions affect people to provide information for an inquiry and the landscape and are important into the possibility of forming a culture both for posterity and in contemporary reserve. Silo in Vara. Photo Thomas Carlquist© society. This article gives some examples People and their buildings was the Västergötland Museum. of projects that have been conducted in topic chosen in order to shed light on recent years. the village’s development and change. To be moved because a large body of iron find causal connections between the vil- ore is to be extracted, with the risk of The consequences of our electricity lage’s origin, development, and present ­undermining the buildings and caus- needs appearance, the project involved not ing collapses. Here the use of nature Gallejaur is a village in the forest on the only interviews with villagers but also is ­dramatically confronted with hu- boundary between the counties of Norr- studies at the Environmental Court in man ­living environments. In prepara- botten and Västerbotten. Here Norrbot- Umeå and the Land Survey Authority in tion for the inevitable transformation of ten Museum was commissioned by the Luleå. The study describes the develop- the town, the museum is performing a County Administration in Norrbotten ment from a new settlement, marked out survey and analysis during 2007 of the to carry out an ethnological interview in 1801, to a village whose existence has evaluations that different local, regional, study and photographic documentation been radically affected by the needs for and national actors make of the town as during an annual cycle, 2000–2001. Gal- electricity in the industrial society. The a cultural environment. The study will lejaur, which in many contexts is descri- assignment has been presented in a pub- provide a foundation for decisions that bed as a forest village that is unique to lication and a travelling exhibition. have to be made about Kiruna’s future northern Sweden, has been radically hit At the County Administration ne- urban environment. by the effects of our industrial society. gotiations are now in progress with the How will the move take place? What The conditions for the village’s livelihood property owners about compensation do people think when they move? What disappeared with the construction of for trespass, and the hope there is that a is given priority? The pool is discussing the Gallejaur power station in 1960–64. decision to make Gallejaur a culture re- the possibility of holding a field seminar Almost all arable land and cultivated bog serve can be made during 2008. in Kiruna once the moving process has was placed under water, when the lake got started. Gallejaursjön was transformed into a Moving a town regulating barrage. The shoreline came Norrbotten Museum is also involved The agrarian memorials almost 100 metres closer to the village in following the move of large parts of ­modernism settlement. Today only three farms are of the town of Kiruna. In the coming What happens to the buildings that occupied in the winter, but during the decade, much of the town centre has to are no longer needed for agriculture?

14 • Samtid & museer no 2/07 The Pool for Management of Natural Resources

Gallejaur. Photo Daryoush Tahmasebi© Norrbotten Museum.

Cultural heritage in change Other studies in recent years have dealt with different aspects of agriculture. ­Uppland Museum, which has agri­ culture as one of its profile areas, has documented a hypermodern byre with robot ­milking facilities and is doing re- search on how ideas about landscape, people, and countryside are expressed in political language, and about changes of ­generation and property transfers on ­During 2004–2005 Västergötland Mu- has been waged by different actors, both farms in Sweden, Estonia, and Hungary. seum, in collaboration with Västra local and non-local. Tourism has stood The County Museum of Gotland is ­Götaland Regional Museum, conducted against reindeer herding, conflicts have currently working on a project about a survey of silos, the tall storage towers raged over the rights to hunting and tourism, where farmhouse accommoda- for grain that set their mark on the land- fishing, and relations between different tion and alternative uses of outbuildings scape in many places. Some silos were groups have been fraught. Now solutions have become new sources of income for investigated in detail, a history of the are being found to the conflicts over farmers. Another project concerns the development of silos was compiled, and natural resources through local admi- extraction and production of lime, with a survey of the current situation. nistration and coordination in “the Am- the focus on how this affects nature and This study was done in the nick of marnäs Council”. the environment. time. In the very last minutes of 2005 To study today’s living conditions in Interviews and photographic docu- the agricultural organization Lantmän- this village and views as to how land – mentation from earlier Samdok stud- nen produced its own survey, Operation the common resource – should be used, ies have also been used in research on Blue Light, of the silos in its ownership. the Pool for Management of Natural Re- agrarian history, as part of the source It shows that only a few of these “surplus sources invited other Samdok pools to a material for Jordbruket i välfärdssamhäl- buildings” will be used in the future. field seminar in August 2007. What are let 1945–2000 (“Agriculture in the Wel- Most of them will be demolished, but the strategies for the village to survive, fare State”), volume 5 in a series on the some can perhaps be preserved as mon- how do they see the future, what does history of Swedish agriculture (Flygare & uments to a change in operations. it mean to live in a nature reserve? The Isacson 2003). The study of silos in western Sweden field seminar was organized by Väster- The studies and other experiences has spawned successors in other parts of botten Museum, which thereby acquired from local museum work are ventilated the country. Soon we may have a more a larger circle of colleagues as partners in continuously in the pool. We arrange comprehensive survey of what Sweden dialogue, while simultaneously obtain- lectures, study visits, and seminars, and looked like before the great silo clo- ing new material. the pool serves as a resource for supple- sure was completed. What is interesting mentary education and networking for about the silo study in western Sweden Museum farms the participating museums. We deal with is that it put the focus on a type of build- The museum farms that can be found current issues and try to keep up with ing and agricultural activity in radical at several museums in Sweden are also the latest research. The pool for Manage- change. The study also created a foun- interesting for the work of the pool. ment of Natural Resources documents dation for the decisions that have to be How do the museums preserve the old a cultural heritage that is changing radi- taken concerning these buildings in the knowledge associated with the farms, cally, and this work is very important for not too distant future. and how can this be used in the present the future. p and the future? The question of a sus- Meanings of nature for residents tainable society is highly relevant for all Ann-Katrin Wahss is department head at and visitors those working with old farming techni- Västergötland Museum and chair of the Pool for Management of Natural Resources, Surrounded by the Vindelfjällen nature ques. The museum farms can be a bank [email protected]. reserve is the little community of Am- of knowledge which could be useful in marnäs, which has gained attention for a new way in the work with tomorrow’s Eva Gradin is head antiquarian at Norrbotten the struggle over natural resources that society. Museum, [email protected].

Samtid & museer no 2/07 • 15 The Pool for Manufacture and Services

The pool for Manufacture and People at work Services focuses on matters concerning people involved in the production of physical objects and energy, services, media, and communication. By Carin Andersson, Ann Kristin Carlström, and Charlotte Åkerman

What our studies have in com- cance for developing our knowledge of » mon is the focus on people in method and theory. relation to conditions in the manufac- The material from the studies is turing industry and the service sector. ­varied, consisting of recorded interviews This includes the connection of working and written answers to questionnaires, life to technology and technical develop- photographs, and artefacts. We strive to ment, new forms of organization, decisi- compile the material and make it acces- on-making processes and management sible to the general public in exhibitions strategies, consequences of changes in and publications. ownership structures, and the increased At the pool meetings one of the pool internationalization. museums always acts as host institution. Björkdal gold mine. At the meetings we discuss how topi- Operator Peter Barrljung at Björkdal. Basic perspectives and methods cal social issues and new perspectives Photo Eva Fägerborg©Nordiska Museet. The changes are studied in the present can develop our work at home in the and against a historical background, so museums. Lecturers from the research that material from earlier studies, among world are invited to talk about current field seminar at the company Volvo other things, can be used for compari- research which relates in different ways Construction Equipment (VCE). In total­ son in recurrent studies. What happens to matters to do with the pool’s sphere there were twelve participants from elev- to occupations and tasks, to the outlook of activity. In the last few years we have en different member museums from all on knowledge and competence, to so- often discussed questions about concepts over Sweden. The field seminar, which cial life and relations between different such as outsourcing, trademarks, global was arranged by Eskilstuna City Muse- social and cultural categories at work- economies, new technology, and mobile um and Västmanland County ­Museum, places? What part is played, for instance, manufacturing. These are new questions was divided into a seminar day, a field- by ethnicity, generation, gender, social linked to modern industry, and we have work day, and a day for summing up and group, and education? felt that they require a new methodology holding a pool meeting. The studies are also intended to shed and new ways to consider the sector of We viewed VCE as a suitable ob- light on the way people view their work, society that it is our task to document in ject for joint fieldwork since it is a big what influences them, and how they act. the pool. company where both manufacture and How do demands for “a good job” stand In recent years the pool has held a services are important parts of the op- up against the companies’ ambitions for series of joint field seminars to give the erations. In addition, the company was rationalization and adjustment to an in- members supplementary theoretical and in the middle of the processes of change ternational market? What older features methodological education and valu- that we had discussed at our meetings. linger on in industry and the service sec- able knowledge of and insight into the Outsourcing, the increased computeri- tor, and how do they affect conditions modern-day industry and service sector. zation and automation, and the growing today? The field seminars comprise lectures, importance of branding were a reality Studies in the pool begin when we field studies, and discussions about top- here. We were able to study and analyse problematize certain issues, and we aim ics of current interest to the members of questions and perspectives that felt rel- at a dialogue with academic research. the pool. A couple of examples are given evant and up to date. These issues can be documented togeth- below. The first day of the seminar began er with other actors in society through with a tour of the large factory premis- collaboration projects of various kinds. How is Volvo doing? es. After being shown round, the group The possibility to cooperate, discuss and During three days in October 2004 the gathered to listen to two lectures. The exchange experience is of great signifi- pool gathered in Eskilstuna to hold a first speaker was Jan Ekström, our host

16 • Samtid & museer no 2/07 The Pool for Manufacture and Services

At Volvo Construction Equipment. Photo Roy Cassé©Västmanland County Museum.

ing of the exhibitions in Skellefteå Museum. We spent the afternoon in the Björkdal mine, where the opera- tions were presented. It was a study trip that the group made to get an idea of the work in the mine. On the follow- ing morning we met the management of the mine and then did interviews with employees. The interviews were tape-recorded and transcribed when the members of the pool had returned home to their own workplaces. The transcribed interviews with contextual details were then sent to the host museum, which thus acquired a corpus of complete new material for its archive. at Volvo, who told us about VCE as a tion in which former departments were An important network company. Then Professor Gösta Arvast- now outsourced companies entailed new Documenting manufacture and services son from the Department of Anthropol- ways of working. The increased com- is a current issue for many Swedish mu- ogy and Ethnology at Uppsala University puterization also led to changes in the seums both at the national level and on lectured about his research on workers work. Today there are totally new re- the regional and local levels. The pool at Volvo and other vehicle industries. quirements for all employees to be able therefore has a large number of mem- The day ended with a discussion based to read and write Swedish and English, bers, even if they have not all been able on our impressions of what we had seen and it is no longer just a matter of work- to work as actively with this as they and heard during the lectures and com- ing with one’s hands. would have wished. The field seminars pany presentation. are highly appreciated as occasions for The second day was devoted to field- In the realm of gold the pool members to meet and together work. We worked in groups of two or The field seminar in autumn 2005 was elaborate on matters concerning both three persons and each group chose for about a highly topical subject: mining. content and method. In their day-to-day itself which themes and questions to Rising prices for gold and other minerals work the members of the pool are oc- work with. The group also had to think have led to constant expansion in pro- cupied with many different tasks and are of suggestions as to artefacts to acquire. specting and mining. not infrequently alone in doing Samdok The actual fieldwork consisted chiefly of The host for the pool’s field seminar studies within the framework of their re- interviews with pre-selected informants in Västerbotten was Skellefteå Museum, spective museums. The pool meetings are from different parts of the company and which had arranged a varied programme thus an opportunity for the members to to a certain extent also of photographic with study trips to the museum, field- learn from each other’s experience. p documentation, observation, and field work at the Björkdal mine, a guided tour Carin Andersson is antiquarian at Eskilstuna notes. of Bergrum Boliden – Boliden’s museum City Museum, [email protected] On the third and last day the groups of mining and minerals, pleasant lunch- presented their fieldwork and discussed es, dinners, and overnight stays in an Ann Kristin Carlström was formerly head of the experience gained during the field- area which has now become a part of the research at the Museum of Work and is now work, both new knowledge about work region’s tourist and experience industry director of Skokloster [email protected] at Volvo and also the method itself. and which is marketed in English under New questions popped up during the name “Gold of Lapland”. Staff at the Charlotte Åkerman is antiquarian at Kulturen the fieldwork and were reflected in the museum also produced reading material in Lund and chair of the pool for Manufacture reports. The relatively new principle “sell for the seminar participants. and Services, one – make one” and the new organiza- The programme began with a show- [email protected]

Samtid & museer no 2/07 • 17 The Pool for Society and Politics

Public institutions in change By Eva Thunér Ohlsson and Kristina Stolt Originally this was called the Health care, school, defence, police, and public administration » Public Pool, and from the begin- are some of the areas that interest the Pool for Society and ning our task was to study institutions exercising public authority. Today our Politics. It is concerned with the significance of the institutions sphere is much wider, encompassing for society as a whole and for the individual, and with our way the political and public sides of people’s of looking at society and each other. lives. The studies comprise phenomena in society that are reflected in the actions of the state, regions, and municipalities, meeting of its own in connection with entrance to the Södra Älvsborg Hos- but we also take an interest in groups the pool meeting. Here they ventilate pital in Borås. We did both participant and individuals who seek to affect public their specific issues, which are often observation and short interviews to life. related to the fact that these museums see how visitors acted and to hear what Decisions in parliament, county mostly were established on private initia- they thought of the entrance. Had the councils, and local councils create regu- tive and the collections are often owned intentions of the hospital management lations for the life and actions of citizens, by associations run with grants from a been fulfilled? The head of premises at but market forces, opinion moulders, county council or a municipality. The the hospital had prepared us by inform- trendsetters, and non-profit groups are medical history group has been deci- ing about the work on the programme, also important actors. How this happens, mated since museums have been put the architectural competition, and the with what methods, and what the conse- in mothballs – a clear example show- construction of the entrance. In all its quences are for the citizens is the focus ing that changes in society and political simplicity, this gave us cause to reflect on of the pool’s interest. In these contexts priorities are a part of everyday reality the working methods and formulation of the citizens have many different roles – for the pool members. questions. voters, elected representatives, profes- Another of our intentions is to sionals, the unemployed, early retire- Meetings carry out small-scale studies in differ- ment pensioners, club members, school The pool meets twice a year. Apart from ent places at the same time, for example, pupils, company leaders, employees, tax- the formal meeting we always have a the new citizenship ceremonies that have payers, etc. – which must also be made lecturer on a topic of current concern to emerged in many municipalities. At the clear in our work. the pool. Practical questions of copyright meetings we can then discuss meth- Some of the current social issues that and ethical issues about the publication ods, the selection of artefacts, the use of have been discussed in recent years and of collected material, for example, from pictures, and such matters based on the considered in the museums’ studies are minors, have been discussed. These are experience we have gained. the restructuring of the public sector, problems that we all have in common. the changed role and organization of the Reports about ongoing and planned Active participation national defence, integration policies, projects in the museums are e-mailed The members’ active participation is Sweden’s membership of the EU, and the to the members before the meeting and crucial for the implementation of our multi-religious Sweden. then appended to the minutes for the new policy statement from 2006. Each archive. We gain time in that the par- museum conducts studies within its Museums big and small ticipants can read the texts before the own sphere of responsibility. These The pool at present has eighteen mem- meeting and can bring up questions and tasks often compete with other museum bers, most of which come from ma- thoughts about the projects. work. It is important to get the muse- jor institutions with national or county um management’s support but also to responsibility, but some museums are Working methods ground the Samdok work in the muse- really small, with only one or two em- The pool also aims to develop the mem- ums’ steering documents and political ployees. bers’ professional role. To do so, this leadership, both so that we can be given The medical history group, which is spring we conducted a field study in the time and resources for our work and one of the small museums, always has a mini-format for half a day in the new so that we can take part in pool meet-

18 • Samtid & museer no 2/07 The Pool for Society and Politics

Definitions of health on notice board in museet.då.nu. “Health is to live here and / now! not yesterday or tomorrow!” Photo Anna C Lindqvist© Södra Älvsborgs ;lfZ_AX^1 Sjukhus, Borås. 3 ("(4( L 7From the project Voices in Nyköping. You and Me 1+1=1. Photo Carolin Sellman, K May 2007.

Q egory that is more common than others, lives. The aim is to broaden the way of the one where people refer to love or looking at what it is to be a human be- relations. They stress that the perception ing, what Nyköping is and has been, F of one’s own health is dependent on one’s urgent issues here and now, and what nearest and dearest also feeling well, that history is and means. one belongs to other people in a give- Right now we are interviewing a and-take relationship. Work also comes great many people in Nyköping of dif- in here. Having a job and being able to ferent ages and in different roles. We ask work is considered to be both an end what is important for them right now. and a means to good health. We want to bring out different lives and Many answers are connected to the backgrounds and illuminate how they concept of joy, satisfaction, and happi- all, with their differing experiences, ness. Here the whole spectrum is rep- contribute to the life of the city, its de- resented, from quite modest wishes to velopment and historiography. The an- be happy, to demands to be completely swers will be presented on long lengths without worries. of cloth, hanging along familiar routes Others write about having time for where people walk in Nyköping, both ijk\i reflection, having the strength to live indoors and outdoors. `epbg`e^ today’s stressful life, the desire for peace One part of the project has already and quiet. An interesting area is body been shown in the city’s shopping malls. and soul. Several people say that you High-school pupils from the Tessin can be healthy even if the body does not School, who have chosen to study Me- ings. The resources vary greatly between work perfectly, as long as the soul or the dia and Communication, have photo- the museums. mind feels all right. Some people empha- graphed their coevals and written texts, An example of how a small muse- size the importance of mental balance. and the museum has had fourteen of um can work with the policy statement These are some examples of the these printed on hangings. comes from the museum of medical his- thoughts expressed when people an- tory, museet.då.nu, in Borås: swered the museum’s question about Monitoring the world around us what health means. Presumably, if one For the pool it is important to be obser- How we define health let people answer the question over a vant about tendencies in the surroun- Museet.då.nu opened in new premises longer period of time, one could also see ding world. It is essential, for example, in the middle of the newly built entrance changes in the character of the answers to see what is taken up in futures studies to the hospital in Borås in autumn 2004. depending on the prevailing debate and in publications from different actors In the museum one meets a big notice about health, and on how the social cli- of interest for our field of activity. The board with the question “What does mate otherwise changes. aim of the pool for Society and Politics health mean to you?” For nearly three must always be to explore processes of years now the visitors have given their Interviews with the people of change in society, to see their effects and definitions of what health means. The Nyköping patterns. p slips of paper are continually changed Sörmland Museum, which is a county Eva Thunér-Ohlsson is head antiquarian at and archived by the museum. museum located in Nyköping, is cur- Sörmland Museum and chair of the pool for Apart from all the people who have rently running the project Voices in Society and Politics, [email protected] made things easy for themselves and Nyköping. Here the town’s inhabitants answered “Everything”, “Being healthy”, from all over the world say what they Kristina Stolt is curator at museet.då.nu in “Feeling well”, and so on, there is a cat- think is important for them in their Borås, [email protected]

Samtid & museer no 2/07 • 19 The Pool for Sami Life

In the midst of the world

By Anne Murray and Eva Silvén Perhaps “glocalization” is the most convenient term to describe

Sápmi, the land of the Sami, the work and perspectives of the Pool for Sami Life. Eight members ranges over the northern parts of cooperate to document and analyse how contemporary Sami issues »Sweden, Norway, Finland, and Russia. change and develop in different settings. The Sami are one of the world’s indig- enous peoples, with a history going back long before the present-day nation states Swedish Mountain and Sami Museum context. This raised questions includ- were created. The traditional livelihoods in Jokkmokk, the Norrbotten Museum ing how such knowledge can be brought of hunting, snaring, fishing, and reindeer in Luleå, the Västerbotten Museum in into the museums’ exhibitions or used herding entailed a nomadic way of life Umeå, the Department of Dialectology, for a reinterpretation of artefacts, pic- which conflicted in various ways with Onomastics and Folklore Research also tures, and documents in the collections. latter-day boundary drawing and exploi- in Umeå, the Multicultural Centre in Similar questions have also been consid- tation of natural resources. Botkyrka, the Museum of Ethnography ered on several occasions in the group’s In the twentieth century, and espe- and the Nordiska Museet in Stockholm, ongoing discussions of the new perma- cially since the Second World War, Sami and, finally, the National Association of nent exhi­bition about the Sami at the society has undergone major changes. Swedish Sami. Nordiska Museet, which is to open in The political picture has changed, just as The members of the group meet at November 2007. there have been economic, cultural, and least once a year, with informal contacts In September 2005 there was a joint social changes. In 1993 the Sametinget in between, for continuous discussing study trip from Kiruna in Sweden via was established in Sweden as both an ideas with each other. The meetings are Karesuando to Kautokeino and Kara- elected assembly and a state authority. always combined with seminars or study sjok in Norway and back. On the way Reindeer herding has been modernized trips. On one occasion the group met the group visited institutions such as and many people have left the tradition- researchers at the Centre for Sami Re- the female craft collective Máttaráhkká al ways of life behind. Sami life today search at Umeå University, another time in Kiruna, the Kristallen gem polish- is enacted far beyond the Samis’ core issues of cultural diversity were illumi- ing works in Lannavaara, Juhl’s silver- area. Most Sami live and work like other nated on the basis of ongoing projects smithy and the Sami theatre Beaivvaás inhabitants of Sweden, and at the same at the Multicultural Centre in Botkyrka. Sámi Teáhter in Kautokeino. The theatre time their Sami identity has taken on On another occasion the group met was then rehearsing the “yoik opera” new expressions. at the Skansen open-air museum for a Skuólfi, which depicts in mythical form These processes and how they have demonstration of experience-based Sami the removal of the Sami skeletons for affected individual people constitutes the knowledge, a part of the world’s imma- which there are calls today to return and starting point for the work of the pool. terial cultural heritage which is called rebury them. The journey continued to Through field studies and collection, the ­“traditional knowledge”. Yet another the main town of the Norwegian Sami, aim is to create an understanding for time the lawyer at the National Asso- Karasjok, with a visit to the central Sami how Sami culture changes and develops ciation of Swedish Sami gave the group in the traditional settlement area, in ur- deeper insight into the ongoing court ban contexts, and in a globalized world. cases about the winter grazing areas of the reindeer, by putting these disputes An informative and learning into their historical and contemporary network

The pool, which was founded in 1990, Sami duodji (handicraft) cutting edge with acts as a network for the member mu- fish skin, wool, plexiglass and silk. Anna- seums and arranges joint seminars, Stina Svakko working with a purse for the study trips, and field investigations. To- Nordiska Museet’s upcoming Sami exhibi- day there are eight members: Ájtte, the tion. Photo: Carine A. Durand 2007.

20 • Samtid & museer no 2/07 The Pool for Sami Life

From the pool’s in the pool’s studies; depending on the field trip to Sápmi subject it is combined with other power in September 2005. factors such as gender and class, but Signpost in Karesu- also ethnicity in a broader sense. At the ando on the Swedish- same time, the Sami aspect can in itself Finnish border, in the be described as multi-perspectival in midst of the world: 11,636 km to Lima, that it includes so many different inter- 6,269 to Calgary. faces, cultural encounters, and cultural Photo: Eva Silvén constructions – regionally, nationally, ©Nordiska museet. and internationally, as well as in rela- tion to different cultural-heritage and research institutions. Borders are also crossed in time, between then and now: history is invoked in trials about land rights, while handicraft and language link past and present in new forms – museum, Sámiid Vuorká-Dávvirat, and city over time, by collecting historical which the pool aims to explore through the adjacent tourist attraction Sápmi material from the old days parallel to contemporary fieldwork and exhibitions. Park. There were lively and interest- present-day interviews. By continuous The museums’ collections are another ing discussions about how a traditional acquisition of artefacts, Ájtte has docu- historical phenomenon that is highly museum and an experience centre with mented the change in the range of wares topical today and charged with present- a multimedia programme, a large souve- sold at the annual Jokkmokk market. day meanings. Through inventories and nir department, and a restaurant could In August 2007 pool members took demands for repatriation the collections cooperate. part in a joint workshop/field seminar are given an active role in coming to together with representatives of other terms with the colonial heritage, both Field studies Samdok pools. The aim was to arrive at nationally and internationally. The pool members represent ethnic, more profound knowledge of what life The global indigenous policy, which multicultural, regional, and national per- is like today in a small place in the Väs- has a place for instance in the various spectives and linguistic and ethnologi- terbotten mountains, Ammarnäs. Differ- organizations of the United Nations, cal research. This span, which is also ent economic activities are represented creates a new framework and a new geographical, gives the group a broad in the community, such as tourism, context for Sami issues at all levels, in orientation which means that Sami is- trade, hunting, fishing, reindeer herding, the museums as well. New affiliations, sues can be viewed from different per- and handicraft. The participants in the meanings, and forms of understanding spectives. The members work in differ- seminar had the opportunity to interview arise, also forcing the museums to alter ent ways with matters concerning Sami local people, to make study tours and their perspective. But for anyone who is life: through fieldwork and collecting, be guided in the surroundings. We hope interested in following a societal change exhibitions, courses, lectures, and other that it will be possible to present the re- in real time, studying how a new power activities. Over the years the projects sult in some form in collaboration with order is established, these movements have dealt with the world heritage site the local community council, so that the and currents are also an object of study of Laponia, with reindeer herding, dress, inhabitants of the place will be able to in themselves. p handicraft, and language, the everyday benefit from the work. life of Sami women, and Sami schools. Anne Murray is curator at the Museum of Ethnography, [email protected] In Umeå the museum, through a study Crossing borders circle, has engaged various organiza- It goes without saying that the Sami as- Eva Silvén is curator at the Nordiska Museet, tions to shed light on Sami life in the pect is not a variable that stands alone [email protected]

Samtid & museer no 2/07 • 21 i Photo Krister Hägglund ©Skellefteå Museum. i Photo Malmö Museums/Jenny Thornell. Images of contemporary Sweden This spread shows a few examples of photo documentation carried out by Samdok member museums in recent years. Photography has always held a strong position in the museums’ contemporary studies, and Swedish museum archives contain large collections of visual material on a great variety of situations, phenomena, and settings in society.

i Photo Krister Hägglund©Skellefteå Museum. s Photo Mats Landin©Nordiska Museet. i Photo Jessika Wallin ©Nordiska Museet. sKrister Hägglund ©Skellefteå museum

22 • Samtid & museer no 2/07 i Photo Ramón Maldonado, Stockholm City Museum.

i Photo Jenny Leyman© Regional Museum Kristianstad.

i Photo Peter Segemark©Nordiska Museet.

i Photo Anna Hadders ©Regional Museum Kristianstad. i Photo Jonas Engman, National Maritime Museums of Sweden. i Photo Andrzej Markiewicz ©Multicultural Centre, Botkyrka.

i Photo Ramón Maldonado, Stockholm City Museum. fPeter Segemark © Nordiska Museet. Samtid & museer no 2/07 • 23 SAMDOKSEKRETARIATET Nordiska museet Box 27820 SE-115 93 Stockholm

Who is who in Samdok?

Samdok Secretariat Samdok secretariat, Nordiska Museet, +46 8 519 546 00, [email protected] Eva Fägerborg, +46 8 519 547 09, [email protected] Stina Thorin, +46 8 519 546 53, [email protected] Chairpersons of the pools CULTURAL ENCOUNTERS GROUP Charlotte Hyltén-Cavallius, Multicultural Centre, +46 8 530 625 50, [email protected] DOMESTIC LIFE Vacant, formerly Mikael Eivergård, [email protected] LEISURE Marie Nyberg, Göteborg City Museum, +46 31 61 37 87, [email protected] LOCAL AND REGIONAL SPHERES Barbro Mellander, Regional Museum Kristianstad, +46 44 13 57 90, [email protected] MANAGEMENT OF NATURAL RESOURCES Ankie Wahss, Västergötland Museum, +46 511 260 14/16, [email protected] MANUFACTURE AND SERVICES Charlotte Åkerman, Kulturen, +46 46 35 04 16, [email protected] SAMI LIFE Anne Murray, Museum of Ethnography, +46 8 519 550 00, [email protected] SOCIETY AND POLITICS Eva Thunér-Ohlsson, Sörmland Museum, Housing estate built for employees at Scania +46 155 24 57 00, [email protected] in Södertälje in 1954, at a time when the town Samdok Council underwent expansive industrial development. REPRESENTATIVES OF NORDISKA MUSEET Christina Mattsson, chair, Being able to offer housing was an important +46 8 519 546 20, [email protected] feature in the recruitment of labour, within Lena Palmqvist, +46 8 519 546 50, [email protected] REPRESENTATIVES OF THE COUNTY MUSEUMS Sweden and from other countries. Scania still Håkan Liby, deputy chair, Uppland Museum, arranges housing for employees today. +46 18 16 91 00, [email protected] Agneta Boqvist, County Museum Varberg, +46 340 185 20, [email protected] Photo 2005 Anna Ulfstrand, Stockholm County Museum. REPRESENTATIVES OF THE CENTRAL MUSEUMS Anders Björklund, Museum of Ethnography, +46 8 519 550 24, [email protected] Barbro Bursell, The Royal Armoury, Skokloster Castle, and the Hallwyl Museum, +46 8 519 555 00, [email protected] REPRESENTATIVES OF THE MUNICIPAL MUSEUMS Graziella Belloni, Eskilstuna City Museum, +46 16 10 13 68, [email protected] Margaretha Persson, Borås Museum and the Textile Museum, +46 33 35 85 87, [email protected] OTHER MEMBER Iréne Flygare, Uppland Museum, +46 18 16 91 00, [email protected] CO-OPTED Birgitta Svensson, Nordiska Museet, +46 8 519 547 13, [email protected] Research Council Samdok’s research council is currently integrated in the Nordiska Museet’s research council. The members are: Birgitta Svensson (chair), Sigrid Eklund, Eva Fägerborg (secretary), Maths Isacson, Ella Johansson, Christina Mattsson, Roger Qvarsell, Maria Sjöberg, and Else-Marie Strese.