We’re getting excited about the opening of a year-long celebration of Nordic culture at London’s Southbank Centre!

 

One of 2017 most-anticipated cultural events is the Southbank Centre’s Nordic Matters,  a whole year’s programme chock-full of classic, forward-thinking and inspiring arts and culture from the Nordic region. It all kicks off with a spectacular opening weekend beginning Friday January 13. A formal opening ceremony will be attended by the Ministers of Culture all the Nordic countries – as well as some amazing artists from the  region. On Saturday 14 January, a day of talks, events and workshops will give a flavour of the year ahead.

 

Nordic Matters will feature music, dance, theatre, visual arts, participation, talks and debates, and gastronomy. Chosen from a number of international applicants, Southbank Centre is the sole recipient of a grant from The Nordic Council of Ministers for a new festival celebrating the very best of Nordic art and culture throughout 2017 – one of the biggest cultural-political partnerships of its kind.

A particular emphasis will be placed on the idea of play fostering curiosity and creativity, for people of all ages but especially children and young people. Moving beyond popular perceptions of ‘Nordic Noir’ the programme is designed to embed Nordic culture and artists in Southbank Centre’s year-long artistic offer and offer a platform to some of the more ‘hidden voices’ from Greenland, Åland and the Faroe Islands.

The programme will unfold as the year rolls on, but there are already some fantastic Norwegian highlights on the poster. Below is an overview of what to check out during the opening weekend and the first few weeks of Nordic Matters.

• Moddi will perform both on Friday 13th and Saturday 14th in the Clore Ballroom at Southbank Centre. He will also be part of a panel discussion after the performance on Thursday 13th

• Norwegian video artists Ingrid Torvund, Ane Hjort Guttu, Kaia Hugin and Ann Lislegaard are part of a Nordic film and video programme during the opening weekend

• House of Sverre is a traditional smokehouse in London, producing handcrafted, sustainable, cold smoked salmon. Its founder, Gunnar Lieungh, will lead a workshop on Smoke, Cure, Pickle, Eat on January 14

• Robert Ferguson, a Brit living and writing in Norway, will be part of a panel on Saturday to discuss the effects of our current lifestyles on the environment

• Safarium is a dance performance especially aimed at children with special needs. They will have six performances at the Southbank Center as part of the Imagine Festival