Denmark ) , song = ( en, "King Christian stood by the lofty mast") , song_type = National and royal anthem , image_map = EU-Denmark.svg , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Danish Realm, Kingdom of Denmark ...

, rindalism (

Danish Danish may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to the country of Denmark People * A national or citizen of Denmark, also called a "Dane," see Demographics of Denmark * Culture of Denmark * Danish people or Danes, people with a Danish ance ...

: ) refers to opposition to

abstract art Abstract art uses visual language of shape, form, color and line to create a composition which may exist with a degree of independence from visual references in the world. Western art had been, from the Renaissance up to the middle of the 19th ...

and especially public funding thereof. Named after , the term covered the mid-

1960s File:1960s montage.png, Clockwise from top left: U.S. soldiers during the Vietnam War; the Beatles led the British Invasion of the U.S. music market; a half-a-million people participate in the 1969 Woodstock Festival; Neil Armstrong and Buzz ...

movement in Denmark against the establishment of

Statens Kunstfond The Danish Arts Foundation ( Danish: Statens Kunstfond) is the principal Danish government funded arts foundation founded by a special Law on 27 May 1964. Statens Kunstfond alongside the :da:Statens Kunstråd (English sometimes State Arts Council ...

Background

On 27 May 1964, the parties in the

Danish Parliament The Folketing ( da, Folketinget, ; ), also known as the Parliament of Denmark or the Danish Parliament in English, is the unicameral national legislature (parliament) of the Kingdom of Denmark—Denmark proper together with the Faroe Islands an ...

, except for

De Uafhængige The Independent Party ( da, De Uafhængige) is a classical liberal and anti-elitist political party in Denmark. It was formed in 1953 as a breakaway party from Venstre as a protest against the established centre-right parties' cooperation with ...

, voted for the law on Statens Kunstfond. The law introduced a new administrative body, Statens Kunstfond, as well as a reprioritisation and massive expansion of art support, so that it reached 3.5 million kr. On 29 January 1965, the first young artists received the first three-year scholarships. Within

literature Literature is any collection of written work, but it is also used more narrowly for writings specifically considered to be an art form, especially prose fiction, drama, and poetry. In recent centuries, the definition has expanded to inclu ...

, these were

Klaus Rifbjerg Klaus Rifbjerg (15 December 1931 – 4 April 2015) was a Danish writer. He authored more than 170 novels, books and essays. In 1965 he co-produced the film '' 4x4'' which was entered into the 4th Moscow International Film Festival. Biography Ri ...

Thorkild Hansen Thorkild Hansen (9 January 1927 – 4 February 1989) was a Danish novelist most noted for his historical fiction. He is popularly known for his trilogy of novels about the Danish slave trade which is composed of '' Coast of Slaves'' (1967), '' S ...

Sven Holm Sven Holm (13 April 1940 – 11 May 2019) was a Danish author and playwright. Holm graduated from Herlufsholm School in 1958. His first short story collection, ''Den store fjende'', was published in 1961. In 1974, Holm was awarded the Grand Prize ...

, Knud Holst,

Ulla Ryum Ulla is a given name. It is short for Ursula in German-speaking countries and Ulrika/ Ulrikke in Scandinavian countries. As of 31 December 2011, there were 61,043 females named Ulla in Sweden, with the name being most popular during the 1930s a ...

and

Jess Ørnsbo Jess is a unisex given name, often a short form (hypocorism) of Jessica, Jesse, Jessie, etc., and a surname. It may refer to: Given name * Jess Atkinson (born 1961), American football player * Jess Cain (1926–2008), American radio host * J ...

. The tax-financed state support for Rifbjerg in particular caused outrage, as he lived life with expensive cars and trips. However, the subsidies awarded to Peter Bonnén from Statens Kunstfond also caused outrage. Ordnet.dk, a website by the Danish Language and Literature Society, defines rindalism as "opposition to or distancing from public financial support for artists and art purchases". During a press conference against the new arts subsidies law, which apparently got behind both Progress Party politicians, artists and cultural mediators, Peter Rindal and his supporters quickly managed to collect around 60,000 protest signatures. However, the protests did not have much significance for the Statens Kunstfond or its administration, whose budget quickly grew from 3,5 million kr. in 1965 to 41,8 million kr. in 1993 and 73,1 million kr. in 2005. According to ''

Dagbladet Information ''Information'' (), full name: ''Dagbladet Information'' (), is a Danish newspaper published Monday through Saturday. History and profile ''Dagbladet Information'' was established and published by the Danish resistance movement in 1943 during ...

'' in 2009, the term rindalism was first used by the

tabloid Tabloid may refer to: * Tabloid journalism, a type of journalism * Tabloid (newspaper format), a newspaper with compact page size ** Chinese tabloid * Tabloid (paper size), a North American paper size * Sopwith Tabloid The Sopwith Tabloid and ...

newspaper ''

Ekstra Bladet ''Ekstra Bladet'' is a Danish tabloid newspaper, published by JP/Politikens Hus in Copenhagen.About
(in Danish) ''E ...

''. In 2022, member of the Danish Parliament Henrik Dahl ( LA) described himself as an rindalist. In 2023,

Alex Ahrendtsen Alex Ahrendtsen (born 14 February 1967 in Kolding) is a Danish politician, who is a member of the Folketing for the Danish People's Party. He was elected into parliament at the 2011 Danish general election. Political career Ahrendtsen was in th ...

( DF), also MF, published a book about rindalism titled ''Rindal: Kampen mod kultureliten og velfærdsstaten'' (Rindal: The struggle against the cultural elite and the welfare state), in which context Dahl called for the revival of rindalism.

References

{{Reflist Art criticism Arts in Denmark Progress Party (Denmark) politicians Counterculture of the 1960s