Nasjonalmuseet of Norway: a cultural renaissance in Oslo

Norway’s ‘gargantuan’ new institution is the third largest in Europe

National Museum of Norway, Oslo 
An ‘astonishingly drab’ building which houses a fascinating collection
(Image credit: Iwan Baan )

As a tourist attraction, Oslo has long existed “in the shadow” of Stockholm and Copenhagen, said Thomas Rogers in The New York Times. Yet where once the Norwegian capital was “derided” as “sleepy and overpriced”, it is now in the midst of a bona fide cultural renaissance that may put it on a par with its more traditionally glamorous Scandinavian neighbours. A major redevelopment project, dubbed “Fjord City”, is transforming Oslo’s waterfront into “a glossy district of high-rises and pedestrian plazas”, and a home for a clutch of world-class museums and art galleries.

Chief among these is Norway’s national museum, a “gargantuan” new institution that finally opened its doors to the public in June, after an 11-year gestation. Combining the collections of four pre-existing galleries and costing more than £500m, the Nasjonalmuseet is Europe’s third-largest museum; with 80 rooms and no less than three acres of display space, it will be able to showcase some 6,500 of the 400,000 objects in its inventory, as well as major temporary exhibitions to rival those at Tate Modern or Paris’s Centre Pompidou. Featuring everything from paintings by Edvard Munch (including The Scream, Madonna and other famous works) to 17th century Norwegian tapestries, to contemporary works of art, it takes an “assertive approach to showcasing Norwegian culture”.

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