Tuesday, May 31, 2005

Where did summer go?

We're still waiting for summer here in Norway. It's cold and windy, and I long for those long summer nights. This could be the best part of the year, but not this year. In London there's been a heat wave, why not share with us? By the way, next week I'm going to London, so maybe it's OK the way it is ;)

Thursday, May 19, 2005

Vienna, Maria João and a city of culture.


Vienna from the air, May 2005 (Photo: Norwegianblogger 2005) Posted by Hello

This week I came back from Vienna after spending four days in this elegant city. It's obvious that this is a city where the rulers have been concerned about spending money on culture. There are magnificent buildings everywhere and at night they look even better with the lights. I'm impressed. I went with three friends and we had several cultural experiences. In my impression I have two highpoints: 1) the concert with jazz-artists Maria João and Mario Laginha at the Birdland jazz club in Vienna's Hilton hotel. Maria's voice and personality is extraordinary - there's not another word that covers it. In one minute she's like a bird, in the next a lion. She's like a thunderstorm and a Brazilian breeze, as Björk in one minute and as Ella Fitzgerald in the next. Not only in singing, but also in her expressions is she totally free at stage, loving every minute of it. Using her hands, dancing around stage, smiling, flirting and crying. She's so alive! Her musicians are the best and made the concert even better. After being sung into heaven we walked out of Birdland with a smile on our faces.


Maria João in Concert in Birdland Jazz Club, Vienna (Photo: Norwegianblogger May 2005) Posted by Hello

For me the next evening's concert in Musikverein was the opposite of the experience in Birdland. Musikverein is probably the most beautiful concert hall in the world, made famous through the broadcasting of the New Years Concert each year. There's no better place to enjoy a concert, and the hall lived up to its reputation. When you walk into this hall your expectations rise. In some ways I felt a little sad when the orchestra entered the stage. They were dressed in Mozart costumes and played Mozart on routine, short pieces of music without any plan or artistic integrity. It was all accompanied by hundreds of digital cameras and mobile phones clicking and flashing throughout the whole concert (among them mine). In some ways I felt a little surprised that this wonderful concert hall was used to a concert like this. One of my friends said it well when he compared it to a Disneyland show (I love Disneyland by the way, but Disneyland is Disneyland - and Vienna is Vienna). For my sake I said that the board of the Musikverein is guilty of cultural prostitution when they use this wonderful hall to a concert like this, but I guess that's a bit too much. To be able to enter this wonderful hall is great, and listening to any kind of music enhances the experience. Imagine the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra in this hall - that would have been something!

My second highpoint was definitely the Kunsthistoriches Museum - probably one of the best art museums in the world! The house in itself was a work of art - and the collection is impressive. We spent hours in the museum, and even had time for an hour in the museum's café. The cakes where like a work of art as well.

All in all: Vienna is highly recommendable!

Friday, May 13, 2005

Three days in Sápmi

Wednesday I was back in Oslo after spending three days in Kautokeino in Northern Norway (almost at the North Cape). It was a fantastic experience. The nature is wild and there
are hundreds of miles of tundra and mountains. I was there for the National Sami Church Council and met a lot of the indiginous people of Norway. A great experience. Today I'm going with three friends to Vienna, Austria.


Finnmark at sunset, May 2005 (Photo: Norwegianblogger 2005) Posted by Hello

At first I thought this photo was blurred and I was going to erase it, but then... I realized: I like it! Photo: Norwegianblogger 2005

Wednesday, May 04, 2005

Nationalism and rights for the Sami people

There's been a discussion in Oslo lately connected to the celebration of Norway's national day, 17th of May. The Sami people want to use their flag in the 17th of May parade in Oslo, but the City Council of Oslo has said no. Only Norwegian flags will be tolerated in the celebration of the national day. It's interesting to observe the fight for symbolic power. There have been two peoples in this country in recorded history. One (the Norwegians) has been dominant in all ways - the language, history writing and cultural symbols. Combined with the ideology of Nationalism we, as Norwegians have been able to establish our culture and symbols as the "natural" for this territory. But is it really? We don't own this land even though we have connected a few symbols and stories to it. I am proud of my heritage, I'm proud of what my forefathers and foremothers have done, but I don't believe that we as Norwegians have a right to dominate another part of the population that have been here as long as us. Should the idea of Norway be connected to nationalistic symbols or should it be about freedom, brotherhood and equality (to use the phrases from the revolution)? To celebrate our freedom, our rights, our heritage I would have loved us to celebrate our national day as two peoples, two flags, united in the values and ideas that made us a democracy. That's what our national day should be about, isn't it?