The Prime Minister's speech at opening of the Bergen International Festival

Checked against delivery
Translated from Norwegian

Your Royal Highness,
devoted residents of Bergen,
and guests from across Norway and around the world,

Thank you to the talented musicians from the Norwegian National Youth Orchestra, and soloists Alma Kraggerud and Victoria Randem.  

There are very few things as quintessentially Norwegian as The Herd-Girl's Sunday by composer Ole Bull – which we have now heard and absorbed.

Yesterday, I took a trip that is perhaps an even more Norwegian experience - through Hardanger: to Norheimsund, Ulvik and then on to Voss – Through landscapes where every view is a postcard, ‘where the shoreline is green,’ as the poet Olav H. Hauge wrote.  I also managed a quick visit to his residence.

Places with identity and self-awareness. And now I have the soundtrack too.  Thank you!

Friends,

Playwright Ludvig Holberg once wrote: 'When one does something, it must be done in a way that it can be heard and scrutinised.'

And when we arrive at the airport in Bergen, we are greeted by a sign that reads ‘BERGEN?’ – so this is clearly a place where questions are being asked.  And that is very much the point in Bergen during these festival days – this city of culture, of trade, of world heritage – with its many well-known cultural figures.

This was Holberg's point: Culture has to be accessible!

Let's remember that, historically speaking, that was quite a radical message. Culture should belong to more than just the privileged few.

In fact, it ‘must be done in such a way that it can be heard and scrutinised.’ It must be heard! Let there be sound! Lots of sound!

And for me, as someone who comes from the east, from the other side of the mountains, down in those darker valleys—and it can be rather bleak there, Bergen friends – I think it's fitting to say this here in Bergen.

Because the people of Bergen are, after all, people who can make themselves heard! 

And even more so the Bergen International Festival!

And the rest of us – we are all ears. 

Because you are right: Culture must be seen and heard, and felt and remembered.

And we must wonder at it and revel in it – and we must scrutinise it. 

Because good art is not indifferent. Good art is real life.

 

It is a great honour for me to take part in the opening of the Bergen International Festival, here at the Festival Square.

For the 74th time, a new Festival is bringing us together – here in Bergen. It is a great day for Bergen and for all of Norway.

No festival in Norway is older,

None is larger,

None is more patriotic,

None is more international,

None is more steeped in tradition,

None is more innovative.   

Bergen is the International Festival, and the International Festival is Bergen. Congratulations!

To use a football metaphor – the Festival is not a local division. The Bergen International Festival is the Champions League. The best of the best.

In the most beautiful setting – the natural surroundings.

In Bergen, all is well when you have mountains and music.

At every important occasion here – and there are many – we begin or end by singing Views from Ulriken, Bergen’s town song. And I almost know all the lyrics by heart – so I can truly sing along.
 
That is one of the things I admire about Bergen – and that can’t just be created out of the blue – it is full of traditions, and culture, and pride that are shared by so many.

I have taken a closer look at the lyrics of Views from Ulriken —you were all born with it, but I was not.

I am learning:

The song tells about a man who takes his cithara up into the mountains – to Ulriken –
to enjoy the view and to see things in a brighter light.

He doesn't bring a good book, or something to sit on. No heart-rate monitor. No cell phone – he brings a finely tuned, string instrument. But the song points to something serious. What was he thinking about?

He ‘thought of the beacons if they were to be lighted, and against foes order out the marching men.’

And these beacons – I have learned – were large signal fires warning of enemies on the way. It was the SMS alert of its time, impossible to switch off – emergency preparedness back then.

So how would a cithara help when faced with these threats? What chords could he play that could bring comfort?

Which brings me to my point – in challenging times such as these:

Culture can contribute to peace. 

In his poem To the Youth, Nordahl Grieg writes that 'war is contempt for life.' And, I would add, contempt for culture.

It is a bad sign in our world when powerful rulers promote an ego-driven culture that sows division, fuels conflict, judges people and shuts others out. 
 
But sharing a cultural experience – making culture accessible for all, as Holberg wrote and as is done here during the Festival – and building community by coming together to create something bigger than ourselves creates unity, hope and a foundation for peace.

And as Minister of Culture and Equality Lubna Jaffery reminds us, in this designated Total Defence Year, culture, too, is an important part of our preparedness.

We need culture in turbulent, unstable times, like these.

Language and music are universal. 

What did Hungary’s newly elected representatives do after a democratic election in which they reclaimed democracy? They gathered in public squares and loudly sang Schiller’s Ode to Joy from Europe’s anthem, Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony.

Music can unite us.

And the man on the peak of Ulriken – he ‘felt the calm and reached for his cithara with playful hands,’ as the song says.

He reached for his instrument.

Mountains and music. Nature and culture.

And my thought is: We take our children and grandchildren to the mountains so that they can see and experience that ‘mountains are mountains, and the Lord has weighed them,’ as Olav H. Hauge wrote. 

The view, the freedom, the air, finding a path, placing a stone on a cairn.

Because people do not live by bread alone.  

People are more than bodies and a calorie count.

People need to feel a sense of belonging, need to feel safe –

and that is when music and culture are at their best –

as building blocks of strong communities, big and small.

So, in closing let me say this:

We need to hear the voices of other people,

listen to music from other countries,

taste the flavours of other kitchens,

see images from other landscapes, 

and learn new stories.

Let's be clear with one another – we must care about more than just ourselves.

That is what makes a festival so valuable – it opens our horizons.

The Bergen International Festival gives us this – everything that is not bread.

But no less nourishing

 

I am pleased to see how much of the festival programme is targeted towards and includes children, young people and families. That is where it all begins.

The Government's Plan for Norway identifies fostering 'a sense of security for children and young people' as one of its five priority areas.

There is little today that is more important than creating a safe, secure foundation for our children, who will come after us.

A foundation where they can participate in, experience and engage with culture and not be rendered passive by social media's algorithms. We must use good culture to captivate their minds.

And this Festival offers the real thing.

With dynamic, live musicians and actors – real people you can see – new music, the next generation of musicians, street theatre, circus, play and dance, and the nightly Nattjazz jazz concerts.

Culture in its purest form. 

Not from a small, flickering screen in your pocket – but on a real stage, up close.

And it is this true, living culture that can create the ‘dreams upon this earth’ from the national anthem we will soon sing.

Here we stand, ‘weathered and proud’

in the beautiful city of Bergen,

gazing towards the mountains of Løvstakken or Fløyen or Ulriken,

or towards the venerable Statsraad Lehmkuhl, now returned from her voyage,

or towards a west Norwegian fjord where I was yesterday,

or towards all the people we love.

Let there be sound! More sound! Let the sound ring out to all.

Congratulations on the 74th Bergen International Festival.