Happy New Year and welcome to the first Norwegian Embassy newsletter of 2008!
The festive season is over, and the long dark month of January is upon us, but fear not, we have plenty of suggestions of what to see and do this month.

Several Norwegian artists will be presented at the international art fair Collect 2008, Henrik Ibsen’s ‘Peer Gynt’ is on at a London theatre at the end of the month, and up-and-coming Norwegian musician Silje Nes will perform concerts in London and Bristol.

For those of you who prefer to stay in on dark winter nights, the novel ‘The Burnt-Out Town of Miracles’ by award-winning Norwegian author Roy Jacobsen will be released in January. Or for a lighter read, perhaps ‘Graham Clarke’s Stavanger’, which celebrates Norwegian city of Stavanger that has been named European Capital of Culture 2008 together with Liverpool, is something for you.

Whatever you do, enjoy it!

Alongside Liverpool, the Norwegian city of Stavanger has been chosen as the European Capital of Culture 2008. Both cities will mark the year with opening ceremonies at the weekend of 11 and 12 January. Stavanger is northern Europe’s largest wooden built city and was a pilot city during the European Architectural Heritage Year in 1975. [+] Read more

One of Britain’s most popular printmakers, Graham Clarke, has given a sparkling boost to the Norwegian city of Stavanger with a book about it. In ‘Graham Clarke’s Stavanger’, Graham Clarke, the artist, humorist and author, celebrates the Norwegian city, which is the joint European Capital of Culture in 2008, together with Liverpool. [+] Read more

Collect, the international art fair for contemporary objects, will for the fifth year be staged at the V&A in London. The Norwegian gallery Format will present eleven Norwegian artists at the fair, while London gallery Flow have two, and Dutch gallery Ra brings one Norwegian artist. Organised by the Crafts Council, Collect is an important annual event in the art world. [+] Read more

The Ibsen Stage Company's production of ‘Peer Gynt’ by Henrik Ibsen, adapted, translated and directed by Norwegian Terje Tveit, is on at the Pleasance Theatre Studio in London in January and February. Set in the early 1930’s, a time of uncertainty and change, Ibsen Stage Company re-tells the story of 'Peer Gynt' in a world of gangsters, jazz clubs, forgery, murder, seduction and beautiful women. [+] Read more

‘The Burnt-Out Town of Miracles’, a novel by award-winning and influential contemporary Norwegian writer Roy Jacobsen, will be published in the UK in January. Born in Oslo in 1954, Jacobsen has written ten novels, four collections of short-stories, a biography and a children’s book. In 2006 he received the Gyldendal Prize for ‘The Burnt-Out Town of Miracles’.[+] Read more

Following the release of her debut album, Silje Nes, an up-and-coming Norwegian musician, is playing three concerts in the UK in January and February. Silje released her debut album ‘Ames Room’ in the UK in December. The album, which is out on record label Fat Cat, was recorded at home by the Norwegian multi-instrumentalist/ singer/ songwriter. [+] Read more

Norwegian films have never been more popular with foreign audiences, and their export value is increasing as the interest from abroad grows. The total export value of Norwegian films has reached NOK 24 million. The income generated by Norwegian films trebled from 2002 to 2006, an increase of NOK 3.8 million. [+] Read more

Norwegian architecture is hitting new highs with numerous iconic buildings being built across the country by both new and more established firms. One of the more recognisable Norwegian names in the world of architecture is Snøhetta whose credits include the library in Alexandria, Egypt, and the planned WTC Cultural Centre in New York. [+] Read more