Røða hjá landsstýrismanninum í sambandi við designráðstevnu í Íslandi
It’s a great honour to bid you all welcome to the 12 Faroese
designers’ exhibition here in Kraum at Design March 2014.
heritage, which we have held in great pride. But it’s only in the very recent
years, that we have also learned to recognize the commercial potential in the
creative industries, at least on the political agenda, even though creative
spirits for many years have struggled to make this potential visible, which has
been very hard in our fishery-dominated economy.
But now the creative industries are visible
everywhere, and designers as these 12, together with architects, musicians,
filmmakers and many other in the creative and cultural sectors, are paving the
way for a new economic direction, where we no longer rely only on natural
resources, but as much on the intellectual and creative power of our people.
strong roots in our cultural heritage, traditional craft and in our local raw
material. But they are transforming these roots into new and surprising
products and techniques, blending the traditional Faroese life with
cosmopolitan expressions.
And by doing this they are showing us what we all have
to do, in all aspects of our society, to create sustainable growth.
An old Faroese saying goes: Ull er føroya gull – “Wool
is faroe gold”. And now this old truth is manifest again, as we see numerous
Faroese designers reinterpreting the traditional knitting techniques and patterns,
creating world class fashion.
regarded as waste a few years ago, and others again are reusing industrial
waste to make new smart and humoristic designs. These designers are not only
selling us smart products, they are selling us products with history, with
visions and with a deep respect for our resources and the environment – Values
which the traditional industries are increasingly building into their products
and processes. Therefore I also foresee a much greater cooperation between the
creative industries and the large traditional industries in the future.
Such cooperation can have massive economic and
artistic impact, but to make it happen we must value the creative industries as
we value the traditional industries, and we must create comparable and
competitive frameworks for the creative industries. This includes making
educations within the creative fields. In Faroe Islands we have had a shortage
of educations for the creative industries, but recently a new education in fashion
design and production was established at the Technical School in Tórshavn. This
is a step towards creating formal educations in the creative fields on the
craftsman level alongside with the traditionale craft-educations. I am sure it
will have a great importance for the Faroese design industry, and also that it
will make it easier to cooperate with educational institutions in our
neighbouring countries in the creative fields.
a long time, and with great recurring events like DesignMarch, you are proving
to your neighbours and to the whole world, that being small and remote is no
hindrance for making and branding world class creative productions. Maybe it is
actually an advantage, as our roots are so rare and different from the
mainstream, that the creations which are natural for us are unique and
exclusive to others.
Faroe Islands and Iceland are cooperating in many
fields, and we have for the past few years worked quite intensively to further our
relations within creativity and innovation. Therefore it’s wonderful to see
that designers and others within the creative fields are also cooperating directly,
as you are doing here at DesignMarch 2014.
I believe that this is just the beginning, and that we
will see a much closer cooperation, and also more trade between our countries,
within the creative Industries and the experience economy.
Our countries are also working together with the other
Nordic countries to establish the Nordic as a leading creative region, and I’m
pleased also to welcome the guests from the KreaNord steering group present
here tonight.
KreaNord is a very special program under the Nordic
Council of ministers. A first of a kind cooperation where the ministries of
culture and the ministries of industry, have joined forces to maximize the
support for the creative industries who cannot be boxed into either culture nor
industry, as they are both.
I will advise those of you in the creative industries
who haven’t heard of KreaNord to visit kreanord.org where you can also add your
interests and competences to the the KreaNord network.
Dear designers and organizers. Thank you all for
making this happen and good luck.