Ambassadors for Kunstnernes Hus
Kunstnernes Hus is not only for artists. After almost a century of activity, the building has come to hold a special significance for many people working in other fields. As Kunstnernes Hus approaches its centenary in 2030, the building is facing a much-needed rehabilitation that will secure its future.
Here, prominent voices from the Norwegian and international art and cultural scene share their connection to the building – and why Kunstnernes Hus must endure.
Published
Ambassadors
Cillian Murphy, actor
Gudmund Stokke, architect and founding partner Nordic Office of Architecture
Jon Fosse, author
Kjetil T. Thorsen, architect and Snøhetta founder
Nils Bech, musician
Tone Hansen, director of MUNCH and incoming director of Moderna Museet
Tor Fuglevik, journalist and media manager
More names to follow!
Cillian Murphy, actor
"Culture needs caring spaces. Places for communities to gather, encounter, imagine, share, create… Cultural infrastructure shelters this imagining, and it too needs our protection and support. Buildings like Kunstnernes Hus, or the Phoenix Cinema in Dingle Ireland that I am helping to preserve and reimagine, carry the memory of the artists and communities that have gathered there for generations. They need our support now to continue this work and to foster the emergence of new artistic visions."
Gudmund Stokke, architect and founding partner of Nordic Office for Architecture
"Kunstnernes Hus has for nearly a hundred years been the country's most important meeting place for artists and for those who love art and architecture. Generations of children, including ours, have climbed the lions. Now the artists need help to take care of this unique architectural gem."
Kjetil T. Thorsen, architect and founder of Snøhetta
"Art needs its institutions, and among Norway’s exhibition spaces, Kunstnernes Hus holds a unique position. A pioneering response to the young nation’s desire for broad public participation and initiatives that could strengthen its national identity, the new building—designed by the influential architects Gudolf Blakstad and Herman Munthe-Kaas—was completed in 1930.
Since then, Kunstnernes Hus has played an invaluable role in the development of Norwegian art. The ceiling paintings by Per Krohg are themselves a masterpiece. Its connection to the international art scene, and the influence of artists from abroad, including Picasso and van Gogh, helped establish Norway as a cultural nation on the world stage. It would be a failure not to preserve this important cultural institution for the future—not only as a significant work of architecture, but above all as an active venue for contemporary art."
Tone Hansen, director for MUNCH and incoming director for Moderna Museet
"Kunstnernes Hus is one of the most prestigious places for an artist to exhibit. The architecture is in a class of its own - and the historical program testifies to an institution that has always been in step with its time - and its artists."
Tor Fuglevik, journalist and radio and TV executive
"In 2030, Kunstnernes Hus turns 100 years old. We should celebrate that anniversary in a house that is equipped for the next hundred years. The rehabilitation is not a cost – it is a gift to future generations of artists and art lovers. We cannot afford to let it decay!"
Further ambassadors
Jon Fosse, author and Nobel Prize laureate
Nils Bech, musician
