High rental costs are consuming a large portion of the budgets of state-funded museums in Sweden, according to official sources. Moderna Museet reports spending 46 percent of its state funding on rental expenses, while nearly half of the Nationalmuseum's budget goes toward rent. The Världskulturmuseerna recently announced plans to close the Medelhavsmuseet and Östasiatiska museet in Stockholm after Statens fastighetsverk proposed a 57 percent rent increase for the Etnografiska museet.
State agencies pay rent to Statens fastighetsverk based on a market-rate model, where rents are set according to what similar operations are willing to pay for the premises. Gitte Ørskou, director of Moderna Museet, has proposed two solutions: either the state increases funding in line with rent hikes, or the rental system is changed.
either the state increases funding in line with rent hikes, or the rental system is changed