Two years ago the Nordic ministers for
cultural affairs approved a grant towards
a project entitled ‘Improving the
qualifications of employees in cultural
institutions – adjusting to a multicultural
society’. The project, recently completed,
has been a joint initiative of
Nordbok and the Nordic Committee
for Museums. The project leader, Per
Bjørn Rekdal, has submitted a comprehensive
report which will be distributed
during the course of the summer.
About a hundred persons from the
Nordic countries have contributed to
the project, either in the steering committee
and the part-project groups or
as participants in trial courses and
meetings.
The project’s guiding principle is that
the Nordic countries today have an
established multicultural normality
and that it is now time for cultural institutions
to take this reality into account.
The project focuses on archives,
libraries and museums and the nature
of the expertise that should be available
to these institutions in a multicultural
society. The aim of the project has been
to determine the elements and themes
which educational institutions can
employ in order to ensure that various
forms of multicultural awareness become
a permanent part of training
courses. The report describes the opportunities
available to archives, libraries
and museums, if they are to play a
significant role in the multicultural
society, and also discusses what themes
this widening of expertise should focus
on.
The report comes to the conclusion
that the following themes are paramount:
Cross-cultural understanding is a fundamental
qualification for those working
in archives, libraries and museums and
provides the essential basis for crosscultural
collaboration and communication.
This is recommended first and
foremost as training best suited to the
workplace.
Cultural awareness is a qualification
taken for granted where expressions
of the cultural majority are concerned.
The basis of knowledge concerning
manifestations of non-western cultures,
however, is very weak. Cultural
awareness is a pre-condition for establishing
qualified cross-cultural contacts
of value to both the majority and the
minority and is absolutely essential for
creating mutual critical attitudes based
on insight. It is recommended that cultural
awareness should be included as
part of the basic training syllabus, as an
item of choice in combined studies and
also as a further education course.
Contemporary documentation has become
increasingly important for both
archives and museums. Since the 1970s
immigration has brought about one of
the 20th century’s most radical changes
in society and will continue to have
deep consequences throughout the
21st. It is vital to future research and
for those who make use of archives and
museums that contemporary documentation
fully records this process of
immigration and the multicultural situation
of the present day. Contemporary
documentation of the multicultural
aspects of society must form a
part of both basic training and further
education.
Contemporary presentation in a multicultural
society creates new challenges
for archives, libraries and museums.
There are considerable difficulties
attached to reaching users among the
new minorities and to establishing the
co-operation and new functions necessary
to turn cultural institutions into
arenas helping to promote integration.
Many of the principal questions which
arise today of both an ethical and critical
nature are central in themselves and
independent of the multicultural dimension.
Systematic teaching material
on these subjects should be produced
for use both in basic training and in
further education.
Collection of ‘Best/Worst Cases. Sample
material is of extreme importance
when establishing a new field of research
and not only examples of success.
Even more can be learned from
failures and the difficulties encountered.
It is recommended that a website
should be created and maintained for
the collection of such examples and for
the use of Nordic cultural institutions.
There is presumably already a considerable
amount of material in existence
which has been presented at various
seminars and conferences. It could be
requested in connection with such projects
that a down-to-earth, unvarnished
report should be sent in. It is not unreasonable
to assume that a website of
this nature could make a significant
contribution to practical advance planning
and thus to more realistic projects.
Enclosures to the report include articles
and overheads produced either directly
for the project or in close association.
In addition to a list of important
links on the internet, there is also a
description of the project, together
with an account of the way it was conducted
and an evaluation of the project’s
trial course.
The report can be ordered directly
from NORDBOK.
E-mail: nb@abmutvikling.no
Tlf. +47 23 11 75 00
Translated by Eric Deverill
