Hip heritage and contemporary tastes. Packaging the Nordic in the American cultural market

Abstract

This article focuses on two institutions, the American Swedish Institute and the Nordic Heritage Museum that have spent the first part of the twenty-first century thinking and rethinking what the heritage under their auspices can be. In doing this, the text problematizes the manner in which elements of Nordic history and identity are being re-thought and re-framed in the cultural and economic context of the American heritage market. The article asks, how is heritage affected when it is increasingly framed as a marketable commodity? As part of the analysis the article discusses the manner in which these museums are intensively and consciously striving to be cool and chic, but even trend and fashion sensitive as they position themselves in the growing and competitive market of what we call hip heritage.