What is a “KULTURSOMMARJOBB”?
Kultursommarjobb (litterally: “Culture Summer Job”)is a summer job within the cultural sector, mainly aimed at young people aged 16 to 20, and organized by many municipalities in Sweden. It allows young people to work with different forms of artistic and cultural expression and contribute to the local cultural life during the summer months.
It involves several kind of work as e.g,. MUSIC-performing in bands, choirs or solo at public events.
- THEATRE & DANCE – acting, dancing, or performing street theatre.
- VISUAL arts-painting murals, creating public art, or exhibiting art.
- WRITING & POETRY – writing stories, blogs, or performing spoken word.
- PHOTOGRAPHY & FILM – making short films or documenting events.
Mostly those jobs are done in public areas like: parks, streets, libraries or senior homes.
These jobs were created to support young people’s creativity, to give them work experience and to enrich the cultural life of the community during summer.
The concept of “Kultursommarjobb” began to emerge in the early 2000s, with Stockholm being one of the first cities to launch the idea. Since then, it has spread to many other Swedish municipalities and has become a popular way for youth to get involved in cultural work over the summer.
A “Kultursommarjobb” is an official summer job, so participants are paid according to municipal youth wage agreements, just like in other summer jobs. The pay is usually set by the municipality and depends on your age and local agreements, but you can typically expect:
- HOURLY or weekly pay
- Social security and insurance covered by the municipality
- A formal employment contract.
In Gothenburg, I have often come across different bands playing and singing, and many times it has been amazing young people with incredible voices who will probably go far in the future. It must be great to get a summer job and earn a bit of money doing something you truly enjoy.
This is a good initiative that gives these young people something meaningful to do and we strollers get nice entertaining.
Maybe something for the bigger cities in Thailand and other countries in Asia to follow. Surely many young people would be happy to have a meaningful job during their school holidays.
