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 ex plored 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.