Oslo

Wednesday, September 5: Oslo


So, finally a little report on Oslo. We started off the day @ 9:45 when we got to Oslo.
Our first stop was at a multi-cultural museum to talk with a lady (whose name I can't remember and who wasn't there anyway, so I guess its not all that big of a deal) who started this multicultural museum in Oslo, to make a tribute some of the immigrant and indigenous cultures in Norway.
She is now heading up the "Norwegian Year of Cultural Diversity" project, that is happening in 2008. So our meeting with her was to discuss this project. She actually was unable to meet with us for some reason or another, but her partner in this project was. He was an Sri-Lanken-Norwegian, and he had been the editor of a magazine in Oslo that promoted cultural projects, etc.
The Norwegian Year of Cultural diversity is actually a government-funded program, that is taking the year 2008 to "celebrate cultural diversity", by hosting different programs and making some slight changes in the presentation of cultural events, with the goal of making long-term changes in the way Norwegians view cultural life in their country.
Some of the things they are doing as a part of this (and this is the interesting part):

They are pairing mainstream institutions (like the national theatre, etc.) with minority groups, or performers, and plays, etc. One of the things he talked about was maintaining quality, but still having diversity. aka Not bringing in performers just because they're "minorities" even if they aren't talented.
Another thing, that I thought was interesting, that they want to do, is switch up the arenas; bringing majority cultural events into areas where minorities are, and bringing minority cultural events into areas where the majority is.
I thought that was interesting, its like forcing things to be mixed up, without anyone really realizing it. I mean, I feel like if its something I'm used to going to, or a performer/performance that I'd really like (ex: a music group, or a sports event, or something) and the location was moved, I'd still go... I thought it sounded like a good idea, maybe I'm wrong?
Basically, they don't want the minority groups to be too segregated, and they're focusing this year on starting changes to mix things up a bit, and they're hoping these changes will last.
Our class had a discussion on this year, and we came up with some good questions about this whole "Norwegian Year of Cultural Diversity":

-Dilemma of finding that delicate balance between minority identity and inclusion in the majority

-Should there be a minimum number of “segregated” cultural activities in order to maintain a cultural identity? / Can there be too much majority inclusion?

-Dilemma of Authenticity: Who is represented for which culture? The spectrum for the culture can become either too general, or to too specific.

-What identity “should” identify you? (Ex: "She's a dancer", or "She's a [minority] dancer")

-What about those immigrants who want to assimilate, forget a past, or start anew?
Shouldn't it be up to them whether or not they want to continue practicing or living that culture?

So yeah. That was the whole "Year of Cultural Diversity." I'm not really sure if that description was clear. So if you're confused. It's ok.

The other things we did as a group were: Visit the parliament building, and visit Frogner Park

*Just a note about all the government buildings in Oslo: you can walk right up to them. You can walk right up to the building with the Prime Minister's office; you can actually see his window. You can't actually go into the building without an appointment, but still...The parliament building gives free tours every Saturday. You just have to wait outside until the next tour. Seriously, the only gated building in all of Oslo is the US embassy.*

So let's move on to the parliament building...

Our tour guide was REALLY good--professionally trained as a guide. I'll just give a couple of brief notes and the "photo tour".
The Parliament buliding was built in 1866 by a Swedish architect; it took 5 years to build; I don't actually have a picture from the outside, but now you know a little something about the building. On with the Tour...


Waiting outside for the tour

Painting by a Norwegian communist, who felt women should be the forefront of society; I think I like him.

King Harald; The tour guide instructed us to put this as the subtitle of this photo: "Norwegians love their King!"

Our guide, and all the members of the Constitutional Assembly. The oldest member was 65 and the youngest was 17. This took place in 1814, in Eidsvoll.

This is the Central hall, where the press comes to meet with the politicians.

This is the room in which the Parliment ("Storting") meets. There are 169 members, and they sit in alphabetical order by electoral district, not by political party. The public is allowed to sit in, but not talk; its not like Britain, where people are constantly shouting. The painting at the front of the room is a historical painting of the Constitutional Convention in 1814. The Speaker of the House sits in the big chair up front.

This hall has some historical paintings of figures who worked toward the peaceful dissolution with Sweden in 1905, and some others.

For all the library lovers reading this, and I know there are a few (Grandma), this is a picture of the National Library

From the Parliament building, we went to the Palace, where the King and Queen live. *See the previous post for a video of the changing of the guards!*


And some more random photos from Oslo:

A cemetary we passed through on the way...I thought it was pretty.

Some pictures from Frogner Park:



I guess that concludes the Oslo post from Wednesday.