NEWS In 2014 the world will be watching Umeå. As one of Europe’s two cultural capitals, Umeå will make many impressions, both at home and internationally. One contributor is Umeå University.
MULTICULTURALISM, MUSIC, food, museums, nature, art, industry & commerce and the university. When the 2014 European Capital of Culture year kicks off, Umeå will be demonstrating its most creative sides. The theme is the northern region. “The concept of Umeå 2014 is based on a broad cultural perspective, looking at culture as a way of life and an engine for development and progress. It involves the whole of society, whether the considerations are political, democratic, aesthetic, financial or academic,” explains Professor Britta Lundgren, who is leading the group working on Umeå University’s participation in the European Capital of Culture year.
The working group comprises 50 or so people from various parts of Umeå University.
“Together we are looking at how we can link up to the theme for Umeå 2014 and benefit from each other in order to show what an excellent environment the university is for students and researchers, and for collaboration with industry & commerce and the rest of society.”
2014 is a unique opportunity, as visitors from all over the world will be making their way to Umeå. Umeå University has not allocated any specific project budget for activities, with the exception of Caught by Umeå — the European tour taking place ahead of 2014, to attract visitors to Umeå.
“The idea is to hone what we already have. The university has previously made major investments, e.g. in Umeå Arts Campus, Bildmuseet (museum of contemporary art visual culture) and Umeå School of Architecture, and we have many excellent activities such as Culture on Campus, Popular-science events, Open House and other things that can be linked to Umeå 2014,” says Britta Lundgren.
But we must also time important events to take place in 2014. During the course of the year, 20 or so international conferences will be held under the auspices of the university. For instance, the prestigious Design Research Society conference, the major Mathematics Biennial Conference and a UNeECC conference for which universities in previous Capitals of Culture will be visiting Umeå.
“Discussions are also under way on establishing collaboration with the Latvian capital Riga, with whom Umeå is sharing the Capital of Culture remit in 2014. For example, Bildmuseet is already hosting an exhibition of Latvian art.”
ART, DESIGN, AND BOOK PROJECTS, the children’s venture A New Nordic Starry Sky, the experimental music project Voices of Umeå, Samí medicinal plants and the School of Restaurant and Culinary Arts’ 2014 pastry are just some examples of what is to spread knowledge and zest, with Umeå University as the instigator. There will be activities both in the university area and out in the city, and there will be a buzz on campus, even during the summer.
“I hope the visitors will encounter a welcoming atmosphere and will leave us with greater knowledge of Umeå University,” says Britta Lundgren.
If things turn out the way she wants, the university will be investing in research in connection with Umeå 2014.
“The Capital of Culture year will not be standing for elitist, top-down high culture, but will be presenting the city’s ideas as created by the participants themselves. If Umeå goes all the way with this, it will provide a unique opportunity to research into the meaning of culture in a broad sense including everything from diversity and democracy to what it does for growth in the long term, both in the region and in Sweden as a whole.”
In June, the vice-chancellor reached the decision to assign SEK 3.4 million from a strategic resource for interdisciplinary research with special focus on Umeå as the European Capital of Culture in 2014.
Britta Lundgren is a Professor of Ethnology and head of research at the Department of Culture and Media Studies
Footnote: A New Nordic Starry Sky is a collaboration between the science centre Umevatoriet and Kulturverket, an organisation that works with children and deals with creative processes. Children have been working on physics, and have learnt about stars, art, music and individual creativity.
TEXT: Sofia Eriksson PHOTO: Mattias Pettersson ILLUSTRATION: Frida Hammar
This article was featured in the June 2013 issue of Aktum, the magazine for facutly and staff at Umeå University.