Posts Tagged Norway
Design Forum, Fredrikstad
Looking for clothes a little bit out of the ordinary, preferably in bright colours, and made of quality, natural materials? Then head to the Design Forum, a chain of Norwegian shops with 22 outlets in Norway – including one in Fredrikstad. Here you will find original, fun clothes by Scandinavian designers such as Desigual (my favourite) and Blæst, as well as other popular European names, including Save the Queen, Aventures des Toiles and Lilith. Gorgeous shoes by Camper, El Naturalista and Think (among others) and a good selection of accessories ranging from jewellery to woolly hats. The Design Forum also sells its own range of clothes, produced in Denmark with environment-friendly materials. Only marginally pricier than some of your high street chains, but considering the quality on offer, well worth that little extra.
Bryggeriveien 1A. Tel: 69 31 55 55, www.designforum.no
Top 10: Contemporary Norwegian authors
Posted by admin in Art, culture and literature on November 3, 2010
Wanna try some Norwegian literature, but don’t fancy any of the old classics? Here are a few contemporary authors worth checking out. All were born after 1950, and the works mentioned below have all been translated into English.
- Jostein Gaarder (1952–): His book Sophie’s World: A Novel About the History of Philosophy, published in 1991, has become a modern classic, and sold 30 million copies worldwide, but you could also try The Castle in the Pyrenees, The Orange Girl or The Ringmaster’s Daughter.
- Per Petterson (1952–): More sober in tone, but no less powerful, Petterson is recognised as one of the most gifted authors of his generation. Out Stealing Horses (2006) is probably his best known title abroad, but In the Wake, To Siberia, and his latest book, I Curse the River of Time, are all worth reading.
- Lars Saabye Christensen (1953–): His novel Beatles (1984) first brought him to the attention of an international public. Other titles translated into English include The Half Brother, also very popular, The Model and Herman, which was adapted for the big screen.
- Erlend Loe (1969–): Surprisingly only one of his books, Naive.Super, has to date been translated into English, which remains a mystery, as he is in my mind one of the most promising of the new generation of Norwegian writers. Whatever you do, make sure this book is top of your must-read list.
- Roy Jacobsen (1954–): Two of his novels have been nominated for the Nordic Council’s Literature Prize: The Conquerors in 1991 and Frost in 2004. The Burnt-Out Town of Miracles was published in the UK in 2008.
- Tom Egeland: The author behind The Night of the Wolves, and Circle’s End (2001), which some suspected Dan Brown had plagiarized when he wrote the Da Vinci Code. Nine of his books are currently available in English.
- Linn Ullmann: The daughter of Norwegian actress Liv Ullmann and director Ingmar Bergman. Her debut novel, Before You Sleep, was sold to 14 countries (including the United States, Britain, France and Germany) before it was even published in Norway. In 2009, her novel A Blessed Child was nominated to the Independent Foreign Fiction Prize. Her two other novels are Stella Descending and Grace.
- Thorvald Steen: He achieved international recognition with a number of creative historical novels, the most famous of which is probably Don Carlos, which came out in 1993. Other titles include Giovanni, Constantinople, and more recently Lionheart. Steen’s work is translated into more than 20 languages and he has received several literary prizes, both at home and abroad.
- Jan Kjærstad: Awarded the Nordic Council Literature Prize for the last instalment in his trilogy about the TV personality Jonas Wergeland (The Seducer, The Conqueror and The Discoverer). His books have also been translated into several languages.
- Jon Fosse: Widely considered as one of Norway’s greatest contemporary playwrights, although he also writes prose and poetry. Several of his works are available in English, among them Melancholy, Aliss at the Fire, and The Girl on the Sofa.
Remember also that some of Norway’s most talented contemporary authors are crime writers. Read about the most famous ones at http://www.elusivemoose.eu/2010/01/top-5-norwegian-crime-writers/
The moose hunt in Norway
Posted by admin in Uncategorized on November 2, 2010
The moose hunt is over for another year here in Norway. Good thing too – it means humans can venture back into the woods without fearing for their safety, and moose can roam freely again without fearing for their life. Here are a few moose hunt facts, by the way:
- The hunting season for moose varies from place to place, but usually lasts from the end of September or the beginning of October and until the end of October.
- Moose hunting is the most popular kind of hunt in Norway. Some 58,000 hunters took part in the moose hunt last year.
- A total of 36,000 moose were killed during last year’s hunting season.
- Hedmark in eastern Norway is the largest ‘moose county’ in terms of the number of both licences and animals killed – 9,091 hunting licences were issued and 8,055 animals were killed in that county alone last year.
- Moose hunting is used to regulate the moose population at both regional and national level.
- Each team of hunters is allocated a quota of animals they can kill. Once this quota is reached, the hunt is over for that team.
- It is estimated that between 1,250 and 1,300 moose would be killed during the hunt in Østfold this year.
- There is a kill fee for every moose killed – 465Kr for an adult moose, 270Kr for a calf.
(Statistics from www.ssb.no)
Grete Prytz Kittelsen (1917-2010)
Posted by admin in Art, culture and literature on October 4, 2010
The grande dame of Norwegian design, Grete Prytz Kittelsen, died last month in Oslo, aged 93. But her legacy endures.
Educated at the Norwegian National Academy of Craft and Art Industry (where her dad, Jakob Tostrup Prytz, worked as rector) and at the Institute of Design in Chicago, Kittelsen went on to become one of the most talented designers of her generation. Maybe it was in her genes. She was the fifth generation of goldsmith in the J. Tostrup family firm. Famed for her silver and enamel work, particularly her kitchenware, she was one of the best-known Norwegians in the Scandinavian Design movement.
Kittelsen wanted to bring good design to the masses by making jewellery and everyday objects people could afford, and she pioneered the use of large-scale manufacturing methods later used by industrial designers. She was also known to improvise and make her own tools, using for example a dentist bore to draw on silver, and to create works so big she had to use ovens designed to fire bathtubs.
Kittelsen studied in the US, and her work kept taking her back to the States. Unsurprisingly maybe, her designs were often inspired by American art, characterized by clear, plain colours and simple shapes. Her Lotus enamel bowls, produced in Cathrineholm in Halden, Østfold, in the 1960s, sold in their millions. Today they are collectors’ items. From the factory in Halden hundreds of thousands of her pieces were exported to Sweden, Denmark, Germany, England, the US and Canada, but also to countries as far away as New Zealand, Venezuela and South Africa. Such was her reputation.
Lemmings: Mass suicide myth explained
Posted by admin in Nature and the great outdoors, Photos and videos on September 4, 2010
Did you know? A few facts about lemmings
Posted by admin in Nature and the great outdoors on September 4, 2010
- Lemmings are small rodents, found in the northern parts of Europe, Asia and America. They weigh between 40 and 110g and can measure up to 15cm in length. They have long, soft fur, and short legs and tail.
- The black and yellow-brown Norwegian lemming (Lemmus lemmus), common in northern Scandinavia, is also the biggest animal in the lemming genus.
- Lemmings do not hibernate in winter, but hide from the cold in shallow burrows in the snow.
- Females can have litters of up to 12 young (although 3-9 is more common). They breed throughout the year and gestation is only 21-23 days. Breeding is more prevalent in summer and young born at this time are weaned within two weeks.
- Contrary to popular belief, lemmings do not commit mass suicide. But their population can rocket. When this happens, lemmings head for new pastures in search of food. They can swim and will cross bodies of water, occasionally drowning in their quest.
- The study of lemmings since 1970 showed the last population boom was in 1994, ending a pattern of peaks every 3-5 years. This is believed to be a result of global warming.
Must-see exhibition at Soli Brug, Sarpsborg
Posted by admin in Art, culture and literature, News, Photos and videos on August 28, 2010