NEWS ANALYSIS: Norway is widely viewed as one of the wealthiest countries in the world, yet its leaders often neglect national treasures. It took decades to save Edvard Munch’s art, the opening of a new museum for Oslo’s iconic Viking ships is seriously delayed, and now the Norwegian capital’s National Theater is literally falling apart after years of political quarreling.
The National Theater in Oslo, also known as the “home” of famous Norwegian playwright Henrik Ibsen, was supposed to have been saved at least seven years ago. That’s when the former Conservatives-led government vowed that billions of Norwegian kroner would be spent on rehabilitating the theater in time for its 125th anniversary this year.
Some critical repairs were carried out, but not nearly enough. Then the full rehabilitation project needed got sidetracked by theater officials’ own grandiose calls to build an entirely new and highly expensive project undergound and tied to the also-neglected former National Gallery a few blocks away. It closed in 2019 and was emptied of its art that was moved to the new National Museum near City Hall. Five years later, the National Gallery’s future also remains in political limbo, further delayed by all the studies over the prospect of being connected to a new National Theater.
In the meantime, the former Conservatives-led government lost the national electon in 2021, culture ministers came and went and more time and money were spent on new studies of the National Theater project. “While plans are discussed and calculated, the National Theater falls further into disrepair,” editorialized newspaper Dagens Næringsliv (DN) this week. “It’s a tragedy, or perhaps more a political farce.”
Now alarms are ringing once again, to the point where Finance Minister Trygve Slagsvold Vedum of the Center Party has finally stepped in and declared that the state won’t back plans to spend at least NOK 11 billion on a new National Theater complex. He will offer, however, around a third of that to rehabilitate the existing theater, which was supposed to already have been rehabilitated and reopened by now.
Vedum’s new plan will still cost almost as much as Oslo’s new MUNCH Museum did, and involves historical renovation and modernization of the building’s main stage. Plans for a major rebuilding that would sink the stage by around 10 meters to ensure “timely functionality” will likely be scrapped along with the even bigger project nearby, but the historic building will be saved and many argue that’s what’s most important, also for future generations.
“In order to win a political majority in Parliament and secure support and legitimacy around the country, we must come forth with a cheaper plan and lower expectations for quality during the period when the National Theater must close for rehabilitation,” Vedum told DN. He further noted that “we don’t need a Rolls-Royce when a Volvo will do.”
Vedum’s comments this week sparked criticism among those still demanding a new theater in addition to fixing up the original. Kristian Seltun, chief of the National Theater’s management, was clearly disappointed and still wants a new modern facility that will let his staff “carry out their duties” and allow enhancement of their “cultural heritage.”
Political squabbling thus continues over Vedum’s “cheap” version of renewing the theater, with former Culture Minister Anette Trettebergstuen of the Labour Party calling Vedum’s plan “a cultural-political scandal.” Other theater officials, not just Seltun, are also disappointed, stressing how they still have nowhere to set up theatrical productions while the existing theater is fixed up.
Others, meanwhile, are clearly weary of all the delays and contend that the theater building itself is the most important part of the National Theater’s “cultural heritage.” The public, which accepted the closure of the Viking Ships Museum while their new home is underway, will likely understand that the National Theater as an institution just won’t be able to deliver as much as usual while their historic home is redone.
It’s been argued that there are many other theaters in Oslo as well, and more may soon be more available since the City of Oslo isn’t offering what those running city-backed theaters think is necessary to keep operating. Perhaps they could team with National Theater staff and put up plays at the Oslo Nye Teater, for example. Seltun and his staff, though, have already balked at a possible “nomadic existence” among various stages until a rehabilitated National Theater reopens.
The state building agency Statsbygg, in charge of large public projects, has also been criticized for spending far too much time itself on various plans instead of concentrating resources on how to save the National Theater itself. Norway’s current culture minister, Lubna Jaffery of the Labour Party, was careful in her reaction to Vedum’s veto of the most expensive solution, saying the process to determine the National Theater’s future was ongoing.
Newspaper DN, which often disagrees with and even ridicules Finance Minister Vedum, for once gave him support. It editorialized that there’s never been a widespread demand from the public to built an entirely new National Theater complex, only to repair the existing National Theater building. That, suggests DN, is where the public will still want to go to see National Theater productions.
The budget battle is likely to continue through the autumn. Meanwhile, a similar battle continues over the new home for Norway’s Viking ships that’s still under construction at the site of the former Viking Ships Museum that closed in 2021. It was supposed to open next year, but budget overruns have led to major delays and now, threatened budget cuts midway through the construction process.
The current Labour-Center government also felt a need to step in on that project, and demanded that Statsbygg cut costs. That means plans for on-site classrooms for children and youth and an outdoor park are being cut while an auditorium and laboratories for researchers will be delivered far from finished.
Calls have since gone out, also in DN, for the government to back down and simply get the Viking Ships project done. In this case, it’s argued, the Viking Ships are an “exceptional” national treasure, and should be a top priority despite rising costs and budget overruns. Cutting back on a project that’s already underway, and expected to attract upwards of a million visitors a year, have been dubbed “absurd.”
NewsinEnglish.no/Nina Berglund
