Cultural politicians on new report: "Deeply worrying"

Aron Emilsson is a cultural policy spokesperson within the Sweden Democrats and thinks that the report is "deeply worrying".

- It indicates that the government engages in hypocrisy of astronomical proportions when one after another accuses not least the Sweden Democrats of wanting to control, regulate and threaten the free artistic life.

Now that the report points out that cultural life is politically controlled, it speaks its clear language about who actually constitutes a threat to the free art life and it is the government itself, he says.

"Too few guys in dance"

Emilsson thinks that there must be frameworks and structures for what one wants to achieve with cultural policy, but would like to see more private financiers of cultural life.

The Sweden Democrats have also wanted to control art and expressed dissatisfaction with certain works of art, what do you think about that?

- I see it as two different discussions.

Wanting to achieve coherence and community through culture can be done through both public and independent cultural life, but unlike the government, we have not put this identity-political grid over basically the entire cultural sector, says Aron Emilsson.

The Left Party's cultural policy spokesperson Vasiliki Tsouplaki thinks that cultural policy needs some political control.

She believes that problems arise when white-collar workers have to apply the ideas and, for example, make forms.

Arm's length

- The culture must be accessible to everyone, it is tax-financed.

If there are too few guys in dance and too few women in film, for example, then it should be possible to make targeted efforts.

But it must never be the case that we get involved in the artistic content, says Tsouplaki.

Viktor Wärnick (M) does not see any benefits at all in political control of the culture, but now wants stronger work to strengthen the principle of arm's length distance.

- I think that the report confirms what we moderates have pointed out for some time, namely that art and culture have become more politically controlled and that we must do something about it.

I think this opens up a discussion about how dependent the culture in Sweden is on the public sector, he says.