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Scan Magazine | Attraction of the Month | Norway

LEFT: One of Bergen’s KODE museums. Photo: Dag Fosse. TOP RIGHT: Bård Breivik’s permanent sculpture “Helix 18m” in one of KODE’s museums. Photo: Dag Fosse. RIGHT ABOVE: The newly refurbished Rasmus Meyer Collection is home to the world’s third largest collection of Edvard Munch. Illustration: Evening at Karl Johan, KODE © Munch Museum / Munch-Ellingsen Group / BONO.

Attraction of the Month, Norway

KODE - Seven museums in the city of the seven mountains Bergen’s art museum KODE has a long and proud history. As early as 1825 a handful of citizens decided that the city needed its own museum of visual arts – and since then it has grown into an organisation of four art museums housing 43,000 works of arts, crafts and design. By Andrea Bærland

In addition to the four art museums in the city centre, KODE includes the homes of three of Norway’s greatest composers, Harald Sæverud, Edvard Grieg and Ole Bull. In the Bergen city centre KODE houses a substantial collection of one of Norway’s greatest artists: Edvard Munch. If you

missed the Munch 150 exhibitions in the capital last year, the world’s third largest collection of Munch – including several of his most famous works such as Evening at Karl Johan, Jealousy and Woman in three stages – are on permanent display in KODE’s newly renovated Rasmus Meyer Collections. Engaging the public KODE aims to enlighten and inform the public, and wishes to make an impact on societal change. “We are an ambitious organisation, so we want to start a debate,” says executive director Karin Hindsbo.

In KunstLab children get to experience a variety of art and art production. Photo: Dag Fosse

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One of the many reasons why KODE was named Museum of the Year 2014 by the

Norwegian Museum Association is their ability to involve the audience. The audience are captivated at an early age in KunstLab, KODE’s own gallery aimed at children – the first of its kind in Norway. Here famous artists such as Miro, Gauguin and Picasso are presented in a child-friendly environment, and they hold several engaging workshops. “At KunstLab the children get to experience how we conserve and restore art works, and there is also plenty of space to climb and run around,” says Hindsbo. KODE is a versatile museum. Not only are they home to great Norwegian artists; they also maintain an international and contemporary outlook. In collaboration with the National Museum of Art, Architecture and Design, they open the exhibition The Needle’s Eye. Contemporary Embroidery in October. Through Norwegian and international artists, the exhibition explores how the traditional technique of embroidery has emerged in new and often untraditional ways in contemporary art.

The Needle’s Eye is open till 4 January 2015. For more information, please visit: kodebergen.no