Capital of Culture should build on the identity of the city

Århus Stiftstidende has brought an interview with the Head of Culture in the Norwegian town of Stavanger, Rolf Norås, about the challenges associated with being European Capital of Culture. Here are the main points from the article.

Rolf Norås is a man who knows what he is talking about. Not only was he Managing Director of European Capital of Culture Stavanger 2008, he has also collected information from 12 previous cultural capitals in a study of what they would have done differently in hindsight.

The success of a cultural capital is measured not only in the year of the capital, but also in the following years. The study concludes that there are no shortcuts to success. However, the capitals with strong leadership, a close eye on the economy and a focus on citizen involvement were best at creating new networks and new ways of thinking, shows Norås’ study.

A phase of impatience
If you ask Rolf Norås, the ECoC 2017-project is currently caught in ‘a phase of impatience’.

"It is a phase that is characterized by the fact that you are in the process of building the organization, make alliances and plan the programme. It is a difficult period because it creates an expectation among people. They ask themselves, what is happening with ECoC 2017? It is an exciting phase with many expectations and a lot of questions," explains Rolf Norås to Århus Stiftstidende.

As of yet, the Aarhus 2017 Foundation has only revealed a small fraction of the programme for the year 2017. This makes sense, says Rolf Norås.

"My advice would be: Do not reveal the larger projects too soon. This was probably a problem in Stavanger; we started a bit too early to present major events and projects. There is a long period ahead. It is a balance between, on one hand to give people something, but on the other hand making sure that 2017 is the culmination. This presents a challenge," he tells Århus Stiftstidende.

Support of the citizens is number one
The time right now should be used to build alliances within the cultural environment, but also with businesses, believes the former director of European Capital of Culture Stavanger 2008. Rolf Norås' study shows that public support is alpha-omega if the ECoC is to be successful.

"The most important thing is that the citizens of Aarhus have the feeling that this also relates to them. It is not something that should only come from above. It is a very important stage where you have to build up people's enthusiasm. The study shows that you can never put enough emphasis on involving the citizens," says Rolf Norås to Århus Stiftstidende.

In the case of Stavanger, they gave the citizens the opportunity to engage in the project through open invitations to seminars and workshops. In this phase of the process, as Aarhus is in now, about 600 people were involved in coming up with ideas and thoughts that could translate into projects. It gave the citizens a sense of ownership of the Capital of Culture project. At the same time, they worked hard to attach many volunteers to the project.

"The volunteers are the first line, as they meet far more people and cultural actors than we in the Administration do," says Rolf Norås to Århus Stiftstidende.

High degree of substitution
In the past seven months, the ECoC 2017-project in Aarhus has said goodbye to two out of three members of the original Management Team. That replacements occur in the Management Teams of ECoC’s is quite common, shows Rolf Norås' study.

"It happens very often. Some cultural capitals have a staff continuity, while others have a high degree of substitution. San Sebastian, which is ECoC in 2016, is now in search of its third Managing Director," he says to Århus Stiftstidende.

The long term prospects
For Rolf Norås, it has been a motto that the years following the year of being ECoC were the important ones. Sure, 2008 had its strong highlights and fireworks, but when the dust settled, the goal was that the long-term prospects should be visible.

"In Stavanger, culture has become more important politically than before. The cultural budget has increased, and Stavanger currently has the largest share of culture in its budget compared to all other major Norwegian cities," explains Norås to Århus Stiftstidende.

Cultural turning point and boost of tourism
Six years after ECoC Stavanger 2008, a third of the projects originating from the cultural capital still exist.

In the wake of 2008, Stavanger has become more attractive when it comes to attracting skilled and highly educated labour, and here the cultural life of the city has been an overriding factor.

Today, there also is a closer cooperation between culture and business, the latter finding that there are benefits in being associated with culture.

In addition, tourism has been given a huge boost.

"In 2005 60,000 international cruise tourists paid the city a visit. This year the figure was 300,000, and we can see that the big pull came in 2008, when the cruise companies used the capital of culture actively in their marketing strategies," says Rolf Norås to Århus Stiftstidende.

He also points out the importance that the project is evaluated before, during and after by an independent source, so you can get a benchmark against which to measure the effect of the Capital of Culture title.

Taking chances
If Rolf Norås should come up with advice to his colleagues in Aarhus, it would be to take some chances and strengthen the identity of the city:

"Any Capital of Culture that claims that the whole process has been one long victory march really has a problem. If everything is successful, then you have not taken any risks at all. This truly is an opportunity to try new things. Our maxim has been that we would give people what they did not know they wanted. If you want that, you have to take chances. Some things will be successful and some will fail. But it is a 'once in a lifetime position' and it should be used to develop the city," says the former director of European Capital of Culture Stavanger 2008 to Århus Stiftstidende.

At the same time, he stresses that it is important that the project is based on the city's own history and identity.

"Even if it brings something new to the city, people must not be alienated by the programme. This balance is very important. In Aarhus, you have to find a programme that manages to combine the soul of the city and history with new expressions. If they do that there is a good chance of succeeding," says Rolf Norås to Århus Stiftstidende.