Culture Department

The Culture Department creates opportunities for the City’s residents and visitors to access culture or create it themselves. The Culture Department monitors developments in the world of culture and participates in urban planning so that culture has a place in the City. Culture makes the City an attractive place for residents, visitors and companies to live in, visit and work in.

The Culture Department is responsible for

  • Stockholm School of the Arts
  • Liljevalchs art gallery
  • Stockholm Art
  • Stockholm City Library
  • Stockholm City Museum with the Medieval Museum and Stockholmia publishing house
  • some of the City’s events, such as; Stockholm Culture Night, Stockholm Culture Festival and the New Year’s Eve celebrations.

The elected representatives on the Culture Committee make decisions on how the City should work with cultural issues. The Culture Department must then implement the Committee’s decisions.

Organisation

The work of the Cultural Department is led by Director of Culture Maria Jansén. The Department consists of three units and five operational divisions.

The Administrative Unit supports the Department in financial and HR issues, communication, security and premises-related issues, and is responsible for coordination of IT within the Department. The Unit is responsible for the Department’s archives and registry, as well as certain cross-departmental investigations and consultation responses.

The Culture Department’s Communications Unit has overall, coordinating responsibility for the Culture Department’s communication. In addition to the Head of Division, the Unit includes the roles of

  • press officer
  • strategic communications officer
  • digital communications officer
  • graphic designer
  • analyst
  • production manager
  • producer of moving media
  • production of printed materials
  • data analysis function.

The Communications Unit is responsible for the development of the Culture Department as an employer brand.

The Unit works strategically with culture in the City. The Unit provides support for independent culture and works to create and develop activities and networks in the areas of culture, business and other sectors of society.

This Division organises events such as Stockholm Culture Night, the Stockholm Culture Festival and the New Year’s Eve celebrations. The Division offers services in the areas of strategic planning, permits, coordination of security and implementation at the events area in Kungsträdgården.

Stockholm School of the Arts offers courses in the visual arts, dance, music and theatre for children and young people. The courses are delivered during leisure time in all parts of the city. The School of the Arts also offers collaborations with schools to integrate art and culture with other school subjects, for example through El Sistema.

Liljevalchs displays art and design in at least four major exhibitions every year. One well-known recurring event is the Vårsalongen (Spring Salon) exhibition.

This Division includes the City Museum, the Medieval Museum and Stockholmsforskningen (Stockholm Research). The Division preserves, brings to life and conveys the City’s history and the stories of Stockholmers – both past and present. The Division has an extensive programme of exhibitions and publications, as well as large collections of artefacts, photographs, art and documents in archives.

Stockholm Art

The Division also includes Stockholm Art, which works with new public works of art for residential areas, streets, parks and squares, and purchases works of art that are displayed in workplaces, nurseries, schools and homes for the elderly.

Stockholm City Library consists of just over forty city district libraries and more than fifty libraries in hospitals and other healthcare institutions. There is also the International Library, with its collections in over 120 languages, the Sound Library and the Newspaper and Magazine Library.

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