Open AccessHip heritage and contemporary tastes. Packaging the Nordic in the American cultural market
Author(s) -
Lizette Gradén,
Thomas O'Dell
Publication year - 1970
Publication title -
nordisk museologi
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
eISSN - 2002-0503
pISSN - 1103-8152
DOI - 10.5617/nm.6397
Subject(s) - cultural heritage , commodity , context (archaeology) , cultural heritage management , industrial heritage , identity (music) , position (finance) , aesthetics , sociology , political science , history , media studies , art , business , archaeology , economics , market economy , finance
This article focuses on two institutions, the American Swedish Institute and the Nordic Heritage Museum that have spent the first part of the twenty-first century thinking and rethinking what the heritage under their auspices can be. In doing this, the text problematizes the manner in which elements of Nordic history and identity are being re-thought and re-framed in the cultural and economic context of the American heritage market. The article asks, how is heritage affected when it is increasingly framed as a marketable commodity? As part of the analysis the article discusses the manner in which these museums are intensively and consciously striving to be cool and chic, but even trend and fashion sensitive as they position themselves in the growing and competitive market of what we call hip heritage.