From this week onwards, Kunstkritikk’s readers will be able to support the publication by signing up to a new voluntary subscription service. Kunstkritikk will remain free to read, and all its content, both recently published pieces and the archive of nearly seven thousand articles, will continue to be openly accessible. “We have for a long time considered opening up for reader support, as we require more backing to sustain the magazine’s activities in the years ahead,” Kunstkritikk’s Editor-in-chief, Mariann Enge, said.
Founded by the Norwegian Critics’ Association in 2003, Kunstkritikk was originally established to revitalise art criticism in Norway. In 2011, the magazine became an independent foundation and expanded its reach across the Nordic region, establishing editorial offices in Stockholm and Copenhagen to work alongside the journal’s Oslo headquarters. In addition to Enge, the editorial team consists of Norwegian editor Stian Gabrielsen, Swedish editor Frans Josef Petersson, and Danish editor Pernille Albrethsen. Kunstkritikk maintains its position as the leading journal for contemporary art in the Nordic region, and many of the region’s most prominent art critics are, or have been, associated with the publication. Enge noted that cooperation across the Nordic countries has taken on renewed relevance in recent years due to geopolitical developments, “but at Kunstkritikk we have in fact been addressing a shared Nordic public for nearly fifteen years.”
Kunstkritikk publishes informed, critical coverage of the Nordic art scene through reviews, news articles, commentary, and interviews. In addition to serving as a platform for readers to follow developments in neighbouring countries, the magazine has in recent years strengthened its English-language edition. Enge stated that Kunstkritikk is “uniquely positioned to offer international readers insight into art in the Nordic region,” adding that “the English edition also opens up the Nordic art scene to locally based readers who do not speak a Scandinavian language.”
In the Nordics and internationally, the cultural sector is under political and economic pressure, and many media outlets have scaled back their critical coverage of art. Enge said it is increasingly important to support independent, editorially led platforms such as Kunstkritikk in order to maintain an informed public sphere in matters of art and culture. The magazine remunerates writers and editors at a professional level and invests significant time in ensuring the quality of its published texts. Enge emphasised that close editorial collaboration is essential to the magazine’s quality: “Placing the editorial process at the centre of our work has been essential to securing Kunstkritikk’s current position, and it is a prerequisite for our continued development.”
The new reader-support subscription scheme is being introduced because the magazine is under financial pressure. Kunstkritikk receives annual production grants from Arts Council Norway and the Swedish Arts Council, as well as project funding from the Danish Arts Foundation. Additional income is generated through advertising and project grants from private and public funds across the Nordic region. However, core funding has not kept pace with rising costs, and the advertising market is unstable. The magazine is experiencing strong interest from readers, and has seen an increase in readership over the past year as well as a steady influx of new writers who want to contribute to the publication. “The project that Kunstkritikk has developed over the past twenty years has enormous potential, and it would be a great shame to scale back our activities due to financial constraints. We hope our readers will support our work in advancing an informed and critical conversation about contemporary art,” Enge said.