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The Gjuteriet (The Foundry) is a former industrial
estate that today is housing many different cultural
societies in Karlstad. The whole building amounts
to approx. 3 100 square metres. Around 20 societies
rent their own permanent offices or assembly rooms,
3 amateur theatricals have their rehearsal premises
and storerooms, Sensus musical preschool teaches
approx 300 children per week and the theatrical
school has several groups for more than 100 children
and teenagers. Media societies use their own photographic
laboratories, video shop and local radio studio.
Study circles, mostly within nature and environmental
areas carry on their activities classrooms and
about 30 musical groups practice in 9 soundproof
rehearsal rooms and have as well access to a recording
studio. Workshops in the basement are hired by
7 small businesses and other workshop areas are
used by another 3 music groups and used as well
as storerooms, a small recording studio, garages
etc.
Besides the activities that different groups
are occupied with in the permanent areas, the
Gjuteriet´s assembly rooms are occasionally
used by several other societies, organizations
and schools for meetings, lectures, education
etc. Roughly 20 societies have more or less regular
conferences in common meeting hall.
Like a heart in the middle of the Gjuteriet there
is a cafe. It has become a popular meeting place
for both people that work in the Gjuteriet and
those who live and work in the surrounding area.
During the terms in the cafe the Gjuteriet arranges
a series of lectures and art exhibitions (for
amateur artists). The cafe is also the reception
in the Gjuteriet, where visitors can get information,
booking assembly rooms, etc
Even if the different activities in the Gjuteriet
work independently they have a lot of help from
each other. Relatively inexpensive workshops,
a permanent meeting place and address and the
possibility to collaborate with other groups,
give the Gjuteriet as a whole, something much
more. In the activities people of all ages and
with different interests and experiences take
part. Mainly the Gjuteriet can be said to stand
on three legs, societies, theatre and music. Because
the activities are run by many different groups
(large or small), the Gjuteriet is less vulnerable
if one of the societies should cease to function.
Another advantage with a great number of societies
is that new projects or activities can generate
from contact with other groups (the Photographic
Society is used for instance for documentary purposes
and Film Society helps the music groups to make
music videos etc).
At the same time the Gjuteriet is a meeting place
for people of all ages and different interests
("a place of refuge") where musicians,
actors, parents, building workers, old age pensioners
etc have the possibility to meet and exchange
ideas. One comes to the Gjuteriet if one is interested
to take part in any of the established activities
since in the first place it is a workhouse where
certain public activities take place in a smaller
scale. Principally activities take place more
or less every day of the week both daytime and
evenings.
The Gjuteriet is owned by the association Karlstad
Lever. A non-profit association that works to
preserve culture-historical valuable houses and
environments, that Karlstad´s culture societies
can obtain their need for premises provided for
and strive towards a better living environmental
culture in Karlstad. As a part of this work and
as a solution after long discussions concerning
the needs of premises for the societies, the house
was made over from Karlstads´s Council to
the association Karlstad Lever in 1985 for the
sole purpose to let out the premises to the cultural
societies.
The purchase sum is payed as a yearly site-leasehold
payment and the Karlstad´s Council sets
aside an economical grant which the Gjuteriet
has to apply for yearly. The societies´rent
is subsidized in a corresponding scale. The societies
which are entitled to an local council allowance
consequently forfeit the allowance if they move
into the Gjuteriet. The activities that are not
entitled to allowance (educational associations,
small scaled businesses etc) pay full rent for
their premises.
The administration for the Gjuteriet is today
so organized that the board of the association
is divided into two working committees each of
them functioning relatively independent, one working
committee is handling preserving matters and one
working committee with representatives from activities
in the Gjuteriet and which is looking after the
administration of the house and the cafe. The
practical work is managed by one full time manager,
one full time caretaker and one half time cleaner.
At the moment there are 2 full time employees
in the cafe which is open 09 - 20.30. More often
than not there is some trainee, pupils from shools
or someone of that sort in the cafe.
Many societies, organizations or other groups regularly using the Gjuteriet for their activities, for example the following:
Associations
Föreningen Karlstad Lever (working with cultural-history
and administers the estate)
Karlstads Bilkooperativ (vehicle-owner society
for collective use of cars)
Karlstads Bokcafé (book shop and arranges
a series of lectures in the Café Gjuteriet)
Karlstads Finska Förening (office, educational
courses etc for Finnish people in Karlstad)
Miljöaktiva Studenter i K-d (office for local
students interested in environment issues)
Naturskyddsföreningen (office for The Swedish
Society for Nature Conservation)
Ordfront (movement committed to the defense of
democracy and human rights, publishing books &
magazine))
Media
Karlstads Nya Fotoklubb (office and photo laboratory)
Karlstads Närradioförening (umbrella
organization for community radio societies in
Karlstad)
Karlstads Obrända Bibliotek (The Unburned
Library - removed books from public library saved
from beeing incinerated waste)
Kunskapsradion (The Knowledge Radio - broadcasting
educational lectures)
Radio Solstá - Studio Ett (one of 3 community
radio studios in Karlstad, broadcasting daily)
Värmlands Filmförbund (amateur film
and video production)
Värmländsk Kultur (office, publication
of cultural-magazine)
Educational associations and music
Cabaryorkestern (music rehearsal studio)
storerooms for the student´s choir)
Föreningen Ransätersstämman (arranger
for Swedish folk music)
Musiksmedjan (The Music Foundry - music recording
studio)
Ninja (interest group for young female musicians)
Nyeds Dragspelsklubb (accordian-player´s
club)
SpeedBall Recording Studio (music recording studio)
Studiefrämjandet (administration and educational
courses and also rents 9 rehearsal studios for
around 30 music bands)
Kulturverkstan (preliminary music education
for preschool children)
Värmlands Spelmansförbund (office, work
for traditional Swedish folk music)
Theatre
Folkteatern Järnet (home stage, rehearsal
studios and storerooms etc for amateur theatre)
Föreningen NBV-teatern (rehearsal studios
and storerooms etc for amateur theatre and dance)
Gjuteriets Teaterskola (rehearsal studios and
storerooms etc for children´s drama school)
Workshops etc
Escape room (mechanical workshop)
Däcktjänst (car tyre sales)
Café Gjuteriet (cafe, lunch and catering
and picture exhibitions for amateurs)
Franke Teknik (design of elektronics for industrial plants)
The Gjuteriet was born of necessity
The Gjuteriet has existed slightly more than 20
years and is of great value for Karlstad´s
societies and cultural life. Having existed with
an uncertain future in temporary basements or
with no premises at all, many associations have
achieved a good work base for their activities
in the Gjuteriet. The association activities have
been able to develop both in quality and quantity
and have spread rings that have had effect even
outside the Gjuteriet. The reason that the joint
action project has survived and developed despite
some difficulties during the years, depends mainly
on that from the beginning there was a great need
for premises for activities that already were
established. New activities have naturally been
created from the Gjuteriet, but then as a result
that new needs have arisen and new contacts between
different groups were made possible.
The energy and commitment to accomplish the project
came from the people who were going to make use
of the house. The Gjuteriet became possible thanks
to the ability of many people that cooperated
in relatively long democratic preparation process.
The advantage with this is that the many different
needs and wishes of what the Gjuteriet would be,
could be adapted to a more realistic whole picture.
Another basic condition was (and is) that Karlstad
Council (both politicians and civil servants)
could be inspired to a vision of the Gjuteriet
as a association house, assign the building to
the association activities and given the project
economic support and at the same time delegate
to the tenants to manage the shaping of the project.
The Gjuteriet as a meeting place for all
Within the different activities which have their residence in the Gjuteriet people of all ages take part. Approx 1200 persons every week participate in regulary activities in Gjuteriet. The number of people who are passiv members in the different cultural societies, or in other ways have benefit by the fact that Gjuteriet exists, is not possible to tell. However, there is problaby more than 10 000 people in Karlstad that in some way take advantage of Gjuteriet. Even though as an example the music groups are mostly younger participants, one cannot see the Gjuteriet as a whole as a specific meeting place for just youngsters. This is also something that is in line with the original idea of a house that promotes contact between different ages and groups. The Gjuteriet is a meeting place where people primarily meet to practice different interests, being together is an extra bonus. It is presumably also right to say that youngsters that come to the Gjuteriet´s activities have the possibility to enjoy the company of older and more experienced people, to help carry out their ideas and interests. During the years this has shown for example that new societies and interest groups were created and developed with help, support and advice and many other practical means by the Gjuteriet. By these means the Gjuteriet functions as a sort of intelligence bank. In many cases the Gjuteriet has also functioned as a gateway to information channels that are needed by society life in Karlstad, as well as between different idealistic organizations as between interest groups and for example council authorities.
GJUTERIET
+ 46(0)54 - 10 00 00
Verkstadsgatan 1
S-652 19 KARLSTAD, SWEDEN
E-mail: info@gjuteriet.nu
CAFÉ GJUERIET
+ 46(0)54 - 100 700
Opening hours:
Mon - Thus 9.00 - 20.30
Friday 9.00 - 15.30
Sat - Sun after agreement
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