Trondheim needs art subjects – adressa.no

The vast majority of knows Trondheim as a city with a flourishing cultural life, filled with festivals, theatres, museums and other cultural offerings. The access to art and culture is part of what enriches Trondheim and makes it a good city to live in. Trondheim is also a student city, and the students are a large part of the cultural life in the city. Nevertheless, the Faculty of Humanities at NTNU is now considering closing down the Department of Art and Media Studies (IKM), and distributing the academic environments to other departments. We believe that this will lead to the practical-theoretical subjects such as Drama and Theater and Film and Video production facing an uncertain future.

The humanities faculty has asked a committee to come up with proposals on how they can cut their costs. The committee has presented three proposals, all of which aim to cut down on the number of institutes. The committee recommends the proposal which involves closing down IKM. We believe that the explanation that was carried out is weakly justified, with a lack of concrete measures and plans to carry out the structural changes that will be needed if the proposal goes through. The risk assessment around removing IKM is also disappointing.

Cultural life in Trondheim is in constant development. In the autumn, among other things, a brand new theater scene will open in Midtbyen. Such new institutions create demand for people with a certain professional competence. A competence that the professional community at the Department of Art and Media Studies has developed over 50 years. If the art subjects at NTNU are weakened, this invaluable expertise will be lost. Then Trondheim, the city with one of the country’s oldest theatres, could be left without any practical theater training. One of the few practical film studies in the country, which is the second most popular study at NTNU per study place, may disappear. And the unique interdisciplinary professional environment that exists at IKM will be wiped out if it is split up. It is us students who in the future will create Trondheim’s performances, films and festivals. Which will expand cultural life with new projects, collaborations and ideas. If we want cultural life in Trondheim to grow, we must start cultivating the arts and the arts, otherwise they will wither.

This case is basically about priorities. About how to value art. By autumn at the latest, Trondheim county council wanted to remove the music department at Heimdal upper secondary school in order to save money, and last year Drama and Theater’s sister study in Bergen was threatened with cuts and closure. The Department of Music at NTNU, where the Faculty of Humanities is considering moving several programs from IKM, has frozen the study of church music.

The struggle to preserve the arts is not new. We have to fight it all the time on all fronts. The arts’ contribution to society cannot necessarily be measured in profit or the number of students who graduate, but a society without art is not a pleasant place to be. Nevertheless, the Faculty of Humanities’ first choice to save money is to cut the arts.

That NTNU proposes closing down the Department of Art and Media Studies sends a frightening signal about how they value the arts. It reflects how today’s society tends to deprioritize art on the basis of statistics that overlook what is most important. Art has enormous utility, because in all its forms and shapes it creates community and cohesion. It enlightens, entertains and challenges. It is political. And it is important. NTNU has a special social responsibility as one of Trondheim’s cornerstone institutions. It is time for them to step forward and protect their art programs and professional environments. Then together we can strengthen and secure Trondheim’s cultural life.

Stop the closure of IKM.