9 Must-Visit Contemporary Art Galleries In Bergen

At the foot of the seven mountains that surround Norway’s second largest city, there’s a lively art scene promoting local artists. Aside from a major museum with works by the likes of Munch and Picasso, art in Bergen is in the hands of a number of independent galleries and centers for the arts, often sponsored by forward-thinking national institutions. Discover the best of Bergen’s artistic community in our guide to the city’s top gallery spaces.

KODE

Museum

Edvard Munchs Woman, 1984 | Photo by Dag Fosse

KODE is comprised of five different museums, three of which were once the homes of Norwegian composers Edvard Grieg, Harald Saeverud, and Ole Bull. Despite this deep connection with the music world, KODE is foremost an art institution with a collection of over 43,000 works. The museum’s impressive holdings are broken down into smaller collections, the most prestigious being the Rasmus Meyer collection, which houses several masterpieces by celebrated Norwegian painter Edvard Munch. Other offerings include the Stenersen collection with works by Pablo Picasso and Paul Klee, and the China collection which, containing 2,500 objects spanning from the Stone Age to the early 20th century, is one of the largest displays of Chinese art in Europe.

Hordaland Art Center

When it opened back in 1976, Hordaland Art Center became the first artist-run exhibition space in Norway. Ever since the center has presented a rich programme of exhibitions, becoming one of the most important outlets in the country for public engagement with the arts. A wealth of initiatives supplement Horland Art Center’s series of exhibitions in order to further promote an appreciation for contemporary art. These programmes include talks, seminars, an artist residency program and collaborations with many local and national external institutions. The center also offers a bookshop and a cafè where guests are welcome to thumb through art magazines and books.

Bergen Kunsthall

As one of the city’s premier cultural organizations, Bergen Kunsthall is both an exhibition space and an arts commissioner, instrumental in the development of the arts in Bergen and Norway at large. The institution comprises three different sections, each with a separate creative focus. The most important, the Kunsthall, holds large-scale solo and group exhibitions of national and international artists. The other spaces include Gallery NO. 5, a more intimate gallery leaning towards independent art, usually reserved for small-scale solo exhibitions of rising talents, and Landmark, which hosts screenings, concerts, and performing arts shows.

Bergen Kunsthall, Bergen Fine Art Society, Rasmus Meyers allé 5, Bergen, Norway , +47 55 55 93 10

Lydgalleriet

Contemporary art is mostly associated with disciplines such as painting, sculpture, photography, and video. But there are a number of artists who chose instead to express themselves through the experimental medium of sound. These artists have a home in Bergen at Lydgalleriet, a gallery devoted exclusively to showcasing exhibitions which involve the use of sound. The result is a dynamic program of groundbreaking shows that widen the horizon of contemporary art practices. Ånond Versto`s Kosmos Wurlitzer* III @ Lydgalleriet 2014 | Photo Courtesy of Jon Benjamin Tallerås

KRAFT

Gallery Kraft, formerly known as Format, has branches in both Bergen and Oslo. Established in 1991, the gallery takes pride in its rich roster of artists, working primarily within the gray area between sculpture and design. The represented artists are mostly local, evident through their recurring language of animal figures and organic forms inspired by Norway’s breathtaking natural landscape. Among Format’s list of artists are Beate Einen and Vidar Koksvik, who manufacture beautiful pieces from glass, drawing from the country’s strong tradition of glass blowing.

Galleri s.e

Sjur and Elin Nedreaas opened Galleri s.e in 1995. Over the past two decades, the couple’s dedication has helped to establish the gallery as one of the largest, most prestigious private contemporary art spaces in the city. Galleri s.e focuses on artists who approach painting in original ways, often combining it with drawings and other figurative techniques. Dolk, one of the talents in the gallery’s portfolio and whose real identity remains unknown, is numbered amonstg the world’s top ten stencil artists, while Danish street artist Frodo Mikkelsen combines fine art painting with graffiti culture. © Line Hvoslef, Fixed and Floating, 2013 | Image courtesy of Galleri s.e

Langegaarden

Housed in a splendid wood mansion painted in white, gallery Langegaarden is the personal art shelter of Anne Sofie Bertelsen. It is her heartfelt mission to make Langegaarden a meeting point for young talents looking to debut their work on the national art scene. The artists represented by Langegaarden are mostly painters: Alf Ertsland creates grungy, expressive artworks, Jan Erik Willgohs paints non-figurative, metaphoric landscapes and Mona Orstad Hansen follows in the tradition of the 20th century minimalists. Photo by Line Anda Dalmar | Image courtesy of Langegaarden

Entrée

In 2009, artist Cato Løland and curator Randi Grov Berger decided to open a gallery in Bergen that would contribute to the city’s rising art scene. The result is a gallery called Entrée, which acts as a non-commercial independent platform where young artists, local and international alike, can exhibit their work. In fact, the artists involved usually create pieces specifically for their shows at Entrée. Now run by Randi Grov Berger herself, this space has been growing from strength to strength on the local art scene. © Entrée

Stiftelsen 3,14

Art Gallery

Current Disturbance by Mona Hatoum, 1996, edition 1/2. The D.Daskalopoulos Collection / Stieftelsen 3,14

Situated in a historical building circa 1845, Stiftelsen 3,14 is an exhibition space founded by three artists who at the end of the 1980s wished to broaden the horizons of Bergen’s then-limited art scene. A vital, multicultural dialogue is still at the gallery’s heart; indeed, most exhibitions center around the oeuvre of non-Scandinavian, often non-European artists. In particular, Stiftelsen 3,14 has hosted solo exhibitions of Chinese and Japanese artists. Open to all art forms, the gallery is also properly equipped for screenings, performing art shows, and special exhibitions involving sound. Stiftelsen 3,14 engages its audience in a dialog through relevant international contemporary art about the sociopolitical challenges of our international modern world.

About the author

Graziano Scaldaferri

Graziano Scaldaferri was born in a small town 150 km away south of Naples, and always enjoyed all that being born in southern Italy entails: the great climate and the even better food. He completed his studies in Communication Sciences in Naples, but with only his final dissertation to go before graduating, he started working as a web designer instead. After getting his hands dirty with HTML and Photoshop for over three years, he eventually took a break to write his long overdue dissertation. As he is passionate about photography, he chose the recent upsurge of photography books as the topic of his thesis. His interest in photography also led him to create Fotografia Magazine, an online magazine that showcases the work of emerging and talented photographers.