Barents Spektakel in Kirkenes

Crown Prince Haakon started the day on Tuesday by attending the Kirkenes Conference, which featured lectures on the themes The Political Development in the Northern Region and The Northern Region towards 2030. The Crown Prince also had the opportunity to visit the Norwegian Barents Secretariat, which is celebrating the 20th anniversary of the Barents Cooperation this year.

Barents Spektakel

At 6:00 pm, Crown Prince Haakon officially opened the Barents Spektakel festival, which for the tenth consecutive year is providing cultural meeting places for the peoples and countries in the Arctic and northern areas. In his opening remarks, the Crown Prince focused on the importance of culture for development in the region:

- Because culture is dialogue. Dialogue promotes peace and stability, and stability brings development. I have tremendous faith in culture’s creative power, its ability to unite us, boost communication and build something entirely new.

The Crown Prince stayed for the hour-long opening show, which was held at the Kimek ship repair hall and produced by Pikene på Broen, the Norwegian-Russian company of art curators and producers behind the Barents Spektakel.

Ticking Barents

Crown Prince Haakon also attended the opening concert, Ticking Barents - a collaboration between the projects Reconstruction of Utopia by Peter Aidu and Moscow School of Dramatic Art, Wach auf! by Poing and MajaRatkje from Oslo, and ensemble Spolokhi from Arkhangelsk.

Together they gave a performance encompassing revolutionary music utopias of the 1920-30s of the Soviet Russia, recitation of poetry (in a kind of futurist language), post-war German music and Norwegian workers’ songs.

Border Musical

At one minute to midnight, the Crown Prince attended the premiere of the film Border Musical. The film tells the story of Ola from Finnmark, Norway, and Tanja from Kola, Russia, who try to build a life together. Their marriage offers a glimpse into the interface between cultural and social norms and values across the Norwegian-Russian border.

The film was made by the Russian artist collective Chto Delat, in cooperation with other Russian and Norwegian artists. Screenings will be held at the outdoor snow cinema from Wednesday, 6 February, through Saturday, 9 February.