Raja on Kurt Nilsen: – Hoggestabbe – VG

Criticisms of the Minister of Culture and the Cultural Council, which administers the various compensation schemes, have been hailed after Kurt Nilsen’s Christmas tour received more than 13 million NOK in the recent stimulus scheme.

The plan will ensure that cultural events are alive around Christmas as well, despite new and restrictive infection control measures.

On Friday, a score of concert organizers came out in an open letter to the Minister of Culture in which they requested the funds they have requested, but have not received a response. On Saturday, musician and organizer Bendik Hofseth also took to the field with a heated debate on VG.

Culture Minister Abid Q. Raja, however, defends the award for Kurt Nilsen.

– I think some here have put themselves in the gap a bit, says Raja to VG and points to big payouts to, among others, Kurt Nilsen, Bjørn Eidsvåg and Truls Svendsen.

– You have to defend them a bit because when Kurt Nilsen wants to go on tour I want to thank him for doing this – because I think that many of those who had received such notices would have thought no, this does not matter to me, says Raja and gives an example. .

– When Kurt Nilsen goes to the Tønsberg culture house, everyone who participates in the concert receives a payment, thanks to Kurt Nilsen. When you go to the Grieg Hall in Bergen, the Grieg Hall gets paid, thanks to Kurt Nilsen. These 13 million do not end up in the pocket of one person, Kurt Nilsen, they are scattered. It will have 26 concerts from Tønsberg to Bodø. You will have money to pay for concert halls, tour costs: flights, hotels, etc. You have to pay all the musicians, sound and light, crew and guards. And as far as I know, 13 million is less than half of what they generated from income last year, says Raja, adding that he is deeply moved by the willingness to perform in cultural Norway in difficult times.

– I don’t let a single cultural worker stand in the gap without being taken to defense. I stand by Kurt Nilsen, Bjørn Eidsvåg and Truls Svendsen and thank them for taking advantage of the Christmas season to carry out the events that can be held. And Kurt Nilsen had never before requested a single public crown to do this.

– But considering that Kurt Nilsen was paid the money in advance and Bjørn Eidsvåg was paid in 24 hours, at the same time that there are several smaller players who have not yet been paid the funds; I have to ask you directly: are you doing populism here?

– On the contrary! Not everyone understands this, but in other words, we are creating an economic framework to which the Storting must say yes. Once they have said yes, we have to go to ESA for approval. When they say yes, we make a regulation that is delivered to the Cultural Council. But I don’t get a single app, I – I don’t see a single app and I don’t interfere with a single app! That is what the Council of Culture does and I have not had a dialogue with the Council of Culture about a single application, emphasizes Raja.

– Considering all the different compensation schemes that exist now; Did you overestimate the work capacity of the Cultural Council?

– No, not if we think about how fast it went. Regulations, data portals, application-based schemes have been made, requests have been received and paid. I am proud of what the Cultural Council has achieved, and I know that the people who work there are passionate about the cultural sector, and they do their best to take care of the cultural sector in the best possible way, says Raja.

It says that up to 90 percent of the 900 applications that have been submitted to the stimulation plan are less than a million crowns. According to information from VG, the lowest search amount is NOK 2,400, while the highest is NOK 35 million. Stageway has requested this amount for several Christmas tours, including Sivert Høyem, Eva Weel Skram, Hekla Stålstrenga, and several others.

Culture Minister Raja has also participated in the debate on the capacity of the churches during the upcoming Christmas tours. Since benches are not defined as fixed chairs, concerts are only possible for 50 people, not 200.

– What I can say now is that those who have sold tickets with views to 200 people, but can only play for 50, then they should be able to submit an application to fill the gap, says Abid Q. Raja.

The Minister of Culture laughs when VG asks if the compensation money is being drained well.

– Chill out! There is something that we have done since March, and that nobody can touch me, is that we have adjusted and increased the schemes when necessary. This government here is the government around the world that deals with the most funded cultural sector of all. We have lined up so far, and I promise as Minister of Culture that I will do so in the future as well.