On Thursday, the World Culture Museums (SMVK) handed over an investigation into the authority's premises to the government. This is as a result of the fact that SMVK is facing extensive rent increases from the property owner, the Norwegian Property Agency, which DN has previously reported on.
The authority estimates that premises costs will increase by SEK 20.7 million in the years 2027-2029 and that the museums' operations cannot therefore continue to be run in their current form.
Of the three proposals examined by the authority, it is proposed that the lease contracts for the Mediterranean Museum and the East Asian Museum in central Stockholm be terminated. Instead, the activities are to be concentrated at the Ethnographic Museum, which according to the investigation is the most appropriate building. At the same time, a new preliminary study is proposed for an expansion and adaptation of the premises to the larger business.
Britta Söderqvist, superintendent of the World Culture Museums, says that she understands that it seems strange that a museum authority proposes to cancel its exhibition premises, but that the best solution is to consolidate the activities into fewer places.
- We assess that the most sustainable long-term is to reduce the proportion of rented space in favor of increased resource space for the core business. It becomes a matter of premises or competence.
In order to cover increased rental costs and at the same time maintain good operations in all four museums, the authority estimates that increased funding of SEK 35 million per year would be required. The proposed expansion of the Ethnographic Museum in the event of a merger is estimated, according to a previous feasibility study from 2019, to cost SEK 460 million in today's money value - close to half a billion.
At the same time, the authority announced last week that it plans to reduce the workforce in order to balance the economy. Employers and unions are now in negotiations.
Anna Troberg, president of the trade union DIK, sees it as more realistic to use any extra funding to continue operating the four museums than to bet on an uncertain plan for expansion.
- We know that it is difficult to get money for cultural investments in Sweden. My concern is that these museums are closed and moved together to one place, but never get the money for the expansion. Then we basically eliminated two museums, she says.
The collections that are currently at the East Asian Museum and the Mediterranean Museum could, in the event of a merger, be shown at the two remaining museums in Gothenburg and Stockholm. But the authority will also need to expand its spaces for storage.
Britta Söderqvist believes that it is not just a matter of exhibition space and the number of objects on display.
- We manage a collection of half a million objects and currently show three percent. If we get our finances in order, we can work in a different way and with a more varied range, says Britta Söderqvist and highlights that investments in digitization can make the collections available to both the public and researchers.
DIK's Anna Troberg sees the rental model for state museums as the big problem. She believes that it is time for politics to pull the handbrake.
- It is not news that this would happen to these museums and perhaps several others in the future if the rental system is maintained. Politicians need to rethink and see how other countries are doing instead of tinkering with the system. There are, for example, countries where state museums do not pay any rent at all because they believe that the cultural heritage and people's opportunity to take part in it is so important.
Anna Troberg believes that the state has neglected the question of the future of museums for far too long.
- We have known about this problem for many years and several governments have dragged their feet. The politicians have not acted quickly enough, says Anna Troberg, who also points out that the Norwegian Property Agency has been criticized by the National Audit Office for collecting money in heaps. They have also been accused of charging excessive returns.
Since the contracts for the Mediterranean Museum and the East Asian Museum expire on December 31, 2027 and March 31, 2028, respectively, and the notice period is nine months, the investigation emphasizes that decisions must be made "immediately."
DN has applied for Parisa Liljestrand (M), who since the election is minister of culture in a transitional government. She says via her press secretary that the government office has read the document but that it is up to the next government to take a position on the issue.
