Åse Kleveland’s Scandinavia
Åse Kleveland has always had confidence in the ability of Scandinavians to work closely together. Not because we are so similar, but because we complement each other in such a brilliant manner. – Even though there is a core of values that all Scandinavians share, explains Åse Kleveland, the countries each have unique strengths and character traits.
– What is exciting is that in almost any field of work, you are in contact with colleagues from other Scandinavian countries, and nothing promotes collaboration better than people knowing each other, she adds.
Åse Kleveland has been Minister of Culture in Norway and general manager for the Swedish Film Institute. She is a Norwegian citizen and now lives in Oslo after having lived a long period in Sweden; where she also owns a farm in Värmland, right next to the Norwegian border. With a mother from Stockholm and a father – also deeply committed to Nordic issues – from Setesdal in the heart of Norway, Åse Kleveland is from childhood a true Scandinavian, and has a perspective few others can match.
How does she define the concept Scandinavian?
– My concept of Scandinavian is democracies built on widespread popular movements, welfare societies founded on equal rights for all, closeness to nature and faith in common sense.
– Sweden and Norway are the most closely related countries, and the porous borders allow for significant cross-border contact. Even though we like to highlight our differences, the similarities are intoxicatingly close in many ways. At the heart there is a kind of tacit consensus that everyone has a right to a reasonably good life. I think that both our self-esteem and identity are still closely linked to the Scandinavian welfare model, explains Åse Kleveland.
– Welfare has also included my area of expertise, the cultural arena, where culture has been a natural part of the public goods that everyone should have access to, because it is something that gives quality to life, creates fellowship and helps develop us as human beings. Indeed, nothing is a stronger social force than our cultural heritage.
– When our expectations of the welfare model based on the government’s many areas of responsibility collide with social-economic reality, this threatens our Scandinavian identity, explains Åse Kleveland. The way tomorrow’s Scandinavian welfare system will look is a particular challenge for us as Scandinavians. How can we ensure a safe and fair society while taking care of the individual’s ability and motivation to actively contribute to a shared social commitment?
– Another thing that is quite fascinating with us Scandinavians is our relationship to nature, natural materials and wood! It is no coincidence that what characterises Scandinavian design is how we process wood. We respect the material. There is no need to decorate it with a bunch of bells and whistles, because the bottom line is that there is nothing more beautiful than the material in itself.
– And we have also been able to develop the technology to be able to process materials even further in harmony with the finest in Scandinavian design, from Danish chairs to modern, gigantic glulam constructions.
– Contemporary Scandinavian design and architecture is characterised first and foremost by purity, quality and practicality, while the folk culture of the old days outdid themselves in colours, she points out.
– Remove old wallpaper when you are renovating a house in the country, and you will find violet and blue aniline colours all over the place; as well as pink, flowery decorations – it’s gaily decorated, don’t you agree?! Scandinavian functionalism, characterised by the practical and the rational, is what we built our welfare societies on, however. With functionalism we created a chasm between what we regarded as beautiful, the proper and the Scandinavian, and what many people actually surrounded themselves with and which pleased them. I am convinced that in our countries, having few colours outdoors for long periods of the year, people need colours and extravagancy – something to make our hearts beat a bit faster.
– But times change, and diversity is now the rule. One can go mad with colours, much of which is characterised by extreme playfulness. Unpretentious impulsivity for me is just as typical Scandinavian as the bleak, processed minimalism. This is where we can find the energy and inspiration to develop what is typically Scandinavian.