The proposal has been called "an unreasonable and biased commissioned work" by the Academy of Fine Arts. Several voices have also warned that the merger of Arkdes, the Modern Museum, and the State Art Council could have negative effects.
But the government has now decided that the controversial proposal will be sent out for review, with only a limited number of review instances, writes Svenska Dagbladet.
In 2015, there was a similar proposal, which was scrapped after criticism from several review instances. The Ministry of Culture had then sent it out for review to 53 instances. Now it is only being sent to 19 instances – and several of those who were critical last time are not on the list, such as the National Heritage Board, the National Board of Housing, Building and Planning, the Royal College of Art, Konstfack, and the Academy of Fine Arts.
Thomas Pålsson, acting Director-General of the Geological Survey of Sweden, was commissioned by the government to develop a proposal for the merger. He proposes a new large authority called Moderna, and believes that the merger should "take place swiftly". The government has set a review period of two months.
The Academy of Fine Arts believes that the proposed large authority would become "an imposed overarching bureaucracy without benefit for either architecture, design, or free art".
