Kilden an art center
– Kilden a venue that creates its own art. We need to do a better job of emphasizing that. We are, first and foremost, an “arts center,” says Kilden’s director, Hans Antonsen. A new strategy sets the course for Kilden next four years. Among other things, this means new artistic directors for both the theater and the opera, and greater capacity to create art in-house.
ANTONSEN took over as CEO from Bentein Baardson earlier this year. Now, he, the management team, and Kilden’s board have agreed on the strategy moving forward. The work has been ongoing for six months and has been discussed in four board meetings and in several sessions with the staff. Seventy employees have contributed their input, and many of the suggestions have been incorporated into the final strategy.
New Names
It has been nearly five years since Kilden as Norway’s first theater and concert hall to house a theater, symphony orchestra, and opera company under one roof. “Our most important message to the public is that we create art ourselves at Kilden—art that is meaningful, inspiring, and of the highest quality,” says Director Antonsen. He emphasizes that Kilden will Kilden be diverse, a cultural center for Kristiansand and a grand venue for Southern Norway where visiting artists can rent the halls. “But there is something that comes first and foremost here at Kilden. And that is the symphony orchestra, the theater, the opera—and all the encounters between these art forms and the audience,” emphasizes Antonsen.
To make this clear, the theater will now change its name from “Agder Teater” toKilden ,”
“Opera Sør” will now be calledKilden ,” and the department responsible for the cultural center’s mission will be namedKilden .”
Unifying and essential
– The Kristiansand Symphony Orchestra will retain its name, as it follows a naming tradition among such orchestras, where the geographical place name is an important part of their identity. But like the other institutions that joined the merger at Kilden 2012, the orchestra will also be more clearly anchored within the broaderKildenentity. The venue is intended to be a unifying hub for the region and a space that challenges audiences through their encounters with the arts here, says Kilden’s director.
In its five years of operation, Kilden attracted more visitors than were projected when this unique merger in Norwegian cultural life was launched. At the time, the projection was around 100,000 visitors per year. Visitor numbers now stand at just over 160,000 annually.
“What’s important to us now is to get as many people as possible to attend the productions we create ourselves. We’re not chasing audience numbers at any cost, but we want the work we create to be meaningful experiences for many people,” says Antonsen, who set a goal in the strategic plan for operations to become even more efficient in the coming years—so that more funds can be allocated to creating high-quality art.
– Among other things, this means becoming better at long-term planning. Everyone can learn from the orchestra in this regard: If we want an internationally renowned conductor to lead the symphony orchestra at a concert, we can’t just reach out six months before the concert. We have to start planning several years in advance to make it happen. We’ll get even better at this kind of planning, promises Antonsen, who will be able to choose top-tier partners while Kilden the relevance that makes the arts center so important.
More about summer
– We receive a lot of praise for our work with Kilden . Here, we focus largely on children and young people. In addition, refugees, people with disabilities, and individuals struggling with substance abuse and mental health issues, among others, contribute to creating high-quality, relevant performing arts. We are also at the forefront of using digital tools to bring our performances to audiences who cannot attend in person. We intend to strengthen this, including through collaboration with Nordic partners. As we have done when the Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra and Kilden exchange important insights on camera productions. We will develop our digital tools and methodologies to increase our presence throughout the region. But at the core of it all is always our own art, says the director of Kilden performing arts centre Sørlandet.
He would also like to see a wider range of offerings from Kilden , when there are particularly large numbers of people in Southern Norway.
– The strong turnout at the free “Summer at Kildenconcerts has clearly demonstrated that audiences want this kind of event. And at Kilden’s “fifth venue”—Fjæreheia in Grimstad—we plan to create memorable experiences every summer going forward. We’re collaborating with Kastellet in Grimstad, and we plan to stage more Ibsen productions there ourselves, says Antonsen.
In recent years, Kilden motto Kilden “to move and inspire.” The strategic plan has built on this. So now, several new guiding principles will guide the director and the Kilden staff in the coming years. Among them:
“No one shall leave this house unscathed.”
Text by Reidar Mosland