Legitimation work in state cultural organizations: the case of Norway

Finding the balance between the inclusive and exclusive in programming and communication strategies are important for state-funded cultural organizations to master in order to be perceived as relevant by the public and deserving of their privileged position. The organizations have to legitimize themselves to broad audiences, in the last instance all of the nation’s citizens, as well as a narrow audience, the artists and intellectuals. This paper investigates how this legitimation work is mastered by the Norwegian National Opera and Ballet and the Oslo Philharmonic Orchestra, two Norwegian cultural organizations that receive most of their funding from the government. Through an analysis of the organizations’ annual reports, strategy documents and websites, in addition to interviews conducted with the CEOs, I investigate how the organizations communicate their relevance to the public.