From Grieghallen to Griegkvartalet – quite a ‘hole in the head’?

Let’s show again what Bergen can achieve!

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In the days of May 1978At the opening of the Bergen Festival, His Majesty King Olaf opened the Grieghallen Hotel. For nearly 50 years, the city’s “grand piano” has set the tone in the Nordic region’s most exciting cultural city. Where would Bergen and its cultural life be without Grieghallen, and how far could we get in the next 50 years if we could only lay the foundation stone for the new Grieg neighbourhood?

The story of the road leading to Grieghallen’s opening is a narrative to follow; An account of the will to achieve something that the vast majority of people have believed, thought and said is quite a “hole in the head”. Grieghallen’s position has been discussed as comprehensively as Bybanen has been in the past 10 to 15 years.

This year is implemented There was an architectural competition for a new musical theater next door to Grieghallen. Together with Grieg Hall, this would form Grieg’s Quarter.

We want to expand the cultural center that Grieghallen was and still is in Bergen and Western Norway. Edvard Grieg’s now 45-year-old home has very little capacity to carry the cultural weight of the city’s many creative and distinguished artistic environments.

With the new musical theatre In Griegkvartalet we will have more space. Space and capacity offering a space best suited for opera, musical theatre, ballet, dance, concerts and conferences in a city that always has ambitions beyond ourselves.

At the same time, there will be room for the long-awaited international musicals. Audiences will travel to Bergen, not from Bergen, for new and exciting musical and performing arts experiences.

These days Do one go Bergensavisen debate About how, surprisingly enough, Europe’s second cities have asserted themselves over metropolises and become important and admired benchmarks in world-leading culture, business, and research.

In Bergen, we’re used to discussions about rocks and stones a bit, and that’s also the case with this one. But the idea behind it carries an important message in it; That is, if the desire to become more important and better present, yes, great ideas can also be realized in Norway’s second largest city, to the delight of the region and to Norway as a country.

Without the ones in Bergen Get ready, Grieghallen won’t be built. Thanks to socially involved companies and individuals, money has come into place. The starting shot came with the first million made by ship owner Haakon Wallem.

Grieghallen was not the result of the largest public funding campaign in the city’s history: “Grieghall 1970 or the money back”. Here, Bergen residents can donate NOK 200, every year for five years, to contribute to the construction.

In total, it brought in NOK 1.2 million, which was a large amount at that time. And most importantly: it became an expression of the will to create something that was supposedly “completely empty”, but turned out to be a solid success. This is the success we now want to consolidate with the new musical theatre.

Will campaign this year Hopefully it’s about something other than a light rail route. The Conservatives and Labor seem to agree to put second matches behind them. Can we then hope for a joint fight for the Grieg district after this year’s local elections?

We need brave politicians both in Bergen and Westland – not least in government and parliament – when the battle for the cultural crowns is being fought.

Let’s show again what Bergen can achieve, both public and private. Let’s stand together and add the broad side to Griegkvartalet – the square collection that could house another 50 years of the city’s cultural development.