In 2003, the Ministry of Culture and Church Affairs presented the report 'Cultural Policy up to 2014'. This is the first major publication on overall political cultural issues since 1993. Decentralisation and democratisation are still important properties. However, there is a new focus on the importance of strong national institutions that have suffered as a result of decentralisation. The ministry now stress how 'major institutions must continue to be the cornerstones for the implementation of cultural policy' as only strong national institutions are able to face the growing degree of globalisation.

The Ministry of Culture and Church Affairs has therefore prioritised the construction of a grand New Opera House, a new National Museum of Art, Architecture and Design, and a strengthening of the central National Library.

Throughout the relatively short history of Norwegian cultural policy politicians have, by and large, agreed on most of the matters discussed. The 1980s saw an increase in the number of debates, particularly on media policy and the decentralisation of public funding, but since the 1990s there appears to be a wider mutual understanding between the different political parties on matters of cultural policy, allowing further areas of activity to be included in the cultural budget.

Cultural policy is increasingly seen among politicians of most persuasions as of equal importance to other national policies, and there is agreement that national and international culture has an important effect on the development of Norwegian society. Historically, Norwegian cultural policy has been concerned with the development of a common national culture. As a young nation, it was important to cultivate belief in a unique Norwegian identity. However events over recent years have shown that a common national culture is no longer an easily accessible concept. The new Culture Report is the Ministry's recognition of the fact that Norway is increasingly becoming a multi-cultural society, and that cultural diversity and internationalism are becoming increasingly important issues on the official cultural agenda.

The Culture Report sets out the Government’s contribution to the development of the cultural sector and the main guide-lines for the cultural policy priorities in the coming decade. One of the main messages from the Government is to uphold professional art and professionally produced cultural activities as values in their own right. In addition to this the report emphasises that ‘quality’ is a crucial criterion if a cultural project is to have priority in the Government's cultural policy.

The report states that it is important for the government to continue to implement the measures presented in cultural documents previously supported by the Parliament, as well as emphasising new priorities within different art forms, as follows:

i) In the field of performing arts the emphasis is mainly on providing greater opportunities for dramatic art and contemporary dance outside the established institutions; whilst gradually strengthening the Norwegian Opera; and continuing to develop district and regional opera.

ii) In the music sector the Ministry wishes to expand the grant scheme for ensembles; ensure that some of the most important music festivals have more financial and operational freedom; and increase the number of musicians in the symphony orchestras in Bergen, Kristiansand, Stavanger, Trondheim and Tromsø.

iii) In the visual arts sector the development of the new National Museum of Art, Architecture and Design is the most important and demanding challenge. Other important measures include support for international exchange programs of contemporary art. In particular, the Ministry aims to facilitate new forms of artistic expressions and promote art from outside the western tradition.

iv) Within the literature section the Ministry prioritises the expansion of the purchasing schemes for essay writing and non-fiction prose; improvement of the framework conditions for publication of nynorsk (New Norwegian) literature; and production and promotion of literature for the blind and partially sighted.

v) In the archives, libraries and museums sector there are several challenges. For the museum sector the main task is to transform the ‘plethora’ of nearly 800 museums into approximately 100 professionally qualified institutions. In the Library-sector the main task is to build the National Library into a research-oriented centre of excellence. In the archives sector the focus is on enabling the National Archives to handle the growing number of electronic/digital records.

Recent cultural policy also emphasises the importance of the Creative and cultural industries to a greater extent. This is a relatively new issue in Norway, and parliament is still in the process of developing a national policy. The main participants on this work are the Ministry of Trade and Industry and Innovation Norway.

For more information on Norway's cultural policy please see the report ‘Cultural Policy up to 2014’: http://www.dep.no/filarkiv/191373/summary_kulturmeldingen_korrekt_versjon.pdf for the full English translation.

Although Norway's ethnic and demographic structure has been rapidly diversifying for the last 30 years this was not recognised in cultural policy documents until relatively recently. In an attempt to rectify this the Norwegian Council for Cultural Affairs (now called Arts Council Norway) developed a program for the recognition and promotion of cultural diversity. The Mosaikk (Mosaic) programme, which was initiated in 1998, was aimed at ethnic minority art-forms and disciplines. The Deputy Chairman of the Norwegian Council for Cultural Affairs, Khalid Salimi, was responsible for the programme’s development and follow-up. Mosaikk worked to develop strategies for the recognition of cultural diversity by integrating culturally diverse arts into established arts infrastructure and cultural policies. It aimed to promote and celebrate indigenous cultural expressions of ethnic minority groups, as well as increase minority participation in the ‘traditional’ arts and cultural life, as participants, audiences, and cultural professionals. The programme had a financial framework of NOK 5 million each year.

The programme was focused exclusively on artistic expressions from ethnic minority or, in the official terminology, immigrant populations. However, it was concluded that there is an inherent danger in this separatist approach: ‘culturally diverse’ projects can become isolated from the ‘mainstream’ and, by regarding them as a homogenous group, important cultural specificities can be ignored. Therefore, the Mosaikk programme was concluded in 2001 and no longer exists as a separate programme. This has been replaced with an emphasis on cultural diversity incorporated into all of the Council’s work.