A short guide to
Arts and Culture Norway

Arts and Culture Norway supports arts and cultural projects throughout Norway. It conducts developmental work and is an advisor to the central government on cultural affairs.

Arts and Culture Norway (formerly Arts Council Norway) was established in 1965 to administer the Norwegian Cultural Fund. Today, Arts and Culture Norway is in charge of a broad spectrum of administrative tasks and functions within the cultural field, including acting as a secretariate for Arts Council Norway, Goverment Grants for Artists, The Audio and Visual Fund and several other funding schemes.

Arts and Culture Norway is the primary governmental operator for the implementation of Norwegian cultural policy and an advisory body to the central government and public sector on cultural affairs. Arts and Culture Norway is financed by the Ministry of Culture and Equality.

Arts and Culture Norway helps to ensure that art and culture are created, documented, preserved and made accessible to the broadest possible audience. The aim is to guarantee the arts and cultural sector in Norway that is vibrant and diverse.

CEO of Arts and Culture Norway is Kristin Danielsen. Chair of Arts Council Norway is Sigmund Løvåsen. Head of the committee for government grants for artists is Trude Gomnæs Ugelstad, and Head of the board for the Audio and Visual Fund is Susanne Næss Nielsen.

 

A variety of projects

Allocations from Arts and Culture Norway provide funding for a variety of projects and activities within the performing arts, visual arts, music, literature, archives, museums and more.

Each year, Arts and Culture Norway receives more than 20,000 applications for funding. In 2023, the agency handled around € 190 million in state funds earmarked for arts and culture, which is about 9 % of the national cultural budget. Arts and Culture Norway also manages government initiatives in the museum sector. Arts and Culture Norway has a staff of around 150 people.

International activities

Arts and Culture Norway facilitates international cooperation in the cultural sector. The administration works with the EEA Grants Culture and Creative Europe, manages international projects and initiatives, and the funds for Norwegian-Icelandic cultural cooperation.

Arts and Culture Norway is involved in and works with several international networks and agencies:

• IFACCA (International Federation of Arts Councils and Culture Agencies)
• Monitoring Group on Cultural Heritage in the Baltic Sea States
• ICCPR (International Conference for Cultural Policy Research)
• Europeana
• EGMUS – The European Group on Museum Statistics
• EU group for cultural heritage
• The European network of cultural routes
• UNESCO

Creative Europe

Arts and Culture Norway is the national contact point for Creative Europe, the European Union's programme for the cultural and creative sectors. Our tasks include promoting awareness and understanding of Creative Europe and providing free one-to-one advice sessions and support for applicants from Norway. Further duties include organising workshops on the application process, information seminars and other events related to the programme.

Arts and Culture Norway can also help applicants to spread their partner search both in Norway and in Europe.

EEA Grants Culture

Arts and Culture Norway is a donor programme partner and national contact point for the EEA Grants cultural cooperation programmes in the Czech Republic, Romania, Poland, Latvia, Lithuania and Portugal. The EEA Grants were established by Norway, Iceland and Liechtenstein to reduce economic and social disparities and to strengthen bilateral relations with 16 EU countries in Central and Southern Europe, and in the Baltics.

The cultural cooperation programmes support a wide range of activities relating to contemporary and live arts, like the development of the programmes in the beneficiary countries and promoting the information about the Grants to the Norwegian cultural field. We also facilitate the establishment of partnerships between cultural actors in Norway and the beneficiary countries.

Read more about EEA Grants Culture

EEA Grants Culture on Facebook

Norway's Documentary Heritage

Norway's Documentary Heritage, established in 2012, is the Norwegian contribution to UNESCO's Memory of the World Programme. Its purpose is to highlight documents, archives, manuscripts, audio-visual material and the like of central importance to Norway's cultural heritage. Norway's Documentary Heritage contains around one hundred entries – from the runic inscription on the Kuli Stone from around the year 1000, the first evidence of a unified Norway, to a minute-by-minute record of a Hurtigruten journey from 2011.

UNESCO's Memory of the World register

Intangible cultural heritage

Norway ratified UNESCO's Convention for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage in 2007. In 2010 it was decided to accord responsibility for implementing the Convention in Norway on behalf of the Ministry of Culture to Arts and Culture Norway.

As part of the work, Arts and Culture Norway implements activities related to dissemination of information and awareness-raising, and the development and conserving of skills and knowledge about the intangible culture. Following the Convention, Arts and Culture Norway works to ensure the broadest possible participation of communities, groups and, where appropriate, individuals, who create, maintain and transmit intangible cultural heritage (ICH). Arts and Culture Norway works with the relevant organisations and institutions to involve them actively in the management of ICH.

Arts and Culture Norway operates the national registry for intangible cultural heritage as an open website where everyone can contribute.

Intangible cultural heritage in Norway (in Norwegian)

UNESCO lists of intangible cultural heritage

European Cultural Routes

The Cultural Routes programme was launched by the Council of Europe in 1987. Its objective is to demonstrate how the heritage of the different countries and cultures of Europe contributes to a shared cultural heritage.

The Cultural Routes certified by the Council of Europe put into practice the fundamental principles of the Council of Europe: human rights, cultural democracy, cultural diversity and identity, dialogue, mutual exchange and enrichment across boundaries and centuries.

In December 2010, the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe adopted Resolution CM/Res(2010)53 established an Enlarged Partial Agreement on Cultural Routes (EPA) to enable closer cooperation between states particularly interested in the development of Cultural Routes. Norway has been a member since 2011 and is represented at the Governing Board by Arts and Culture Norway.

Here you can find a list of European Cultural Routes with partners in Norway.

Museums 

Arts and Culture Norway works to develop the museum sector in Norway and advises the government on museum matters. Primary responsibility is ensuring that the museums supported by the Ministry of Culture and Equality operate and develop in line with approved policy in this field.

Primary focus areas include developing sector-specific standards, statistics and skills, as well as digital access to collections via open platforms.

Arts and Culture Norway currently has three funding programmes for museum development 2021 – 2023:

• Digital development
• Museums' role in society
• Research in museums

Arts and Culture Norway also administrates security funds and a government insurance programme that enables Norwegian museums and galleries to show international exhibitions of high quality.

Funds for the museum sector from Arts and Culture Norway are provided through revenue from Norsk Tipping, Norway's national lottery.