Swedish royals on official visit to Northern Norway

Today and tomorrow King Carl XVI Gustaf and Queen Silvia of Sweden are paying an official visit to Norway, where they are hosted by the King and Queen in the northern cities of Harstad and Tromsø. The official visit ought to be seen in relation with the current government's focus on the Arctic region, which has meant that a number of prominent visitors have been taken to the region in recent years.
The Swedish royal couple arrived in Oslo from Germany (where they and Crown Princess Victoria had been attending the celebrations of the 70th birthday of King Carl Gustaf's cousin, Prince Andreas of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha) on Sunday and have been staying privately with the King and Queen ahead of the official visit.

My latest article: The myths about the union

As part of the jubilee exhibitions based on the Royal Collections which are the government’s present to the King and Queen for their 75th birthdays last year, Nordnorsk Kunstmuseum in Tromsø is currently showing the art collection which was presented by the Norwegian people to their King and Queen, Oscar II and Sophie, on the occasion of their silver wedding in 1882, and today I write in the newspaper Nordlys about how this exhibition disproves some of the common myths about the union between Norway and Sweden.
Many seem to believe that Norway only became independent in 1905 and that the Norwegian monarchy was invented that year, while the so-called “Swedish kings” hardly set foot in Norway. In fact the union was a very loose personal union between two independent countries, and the high quality of the artworks shown in the exhibition reminds us that the age of the union was a golden age for Norwegian art. That the majority of the artworks show Norwegian landscapes and coastal motifs reflects the fact that King Oscar II travelled more widely in Norway than any monarch since Christian IV. (Unfortunately a typo means that the article says that Oscar II was the first king to set foot in Norway since Christian IV in 1599, but that should obviously be in *Northern* Norway).
The exhibition, which was opened by the Minister of Culture, Hadia Tajik, in the presence of the Queen on 4 February, lasts until 1 September. On the coming Monday the King and Queen will attend the opening of the last of the six jubilee exhibitions, which will be shown in Trondheim until 29 September.
From today there is also another royal-related exhibition in Trondheim, where the stained glass windows presented by King Oscar II to Nidaros Cathedral to commemorate his and Queen Sophie’s coronation in 1873 (which were later removed during the restoration of the Cathedral) will be shown in the Archbishop’s Palace.

Another royal jubilee exhibition opens

For the past two days I have been in Tromsø, far to the north of Norway, where I attended the opening of yet another of the jubilee exhibitions based on the Royal Collections which are the government’s present to the King and Queen for their 75th birthdays last year. The exhibition was opened by the Minister of Culture, Hadia Tajik, in the presence of the Queen.
There are altogether six different exhibitions shown in different parts of the country and the one at Nordnorsk Kunstmuseum in Tromsø shows the art collection which was presented to King Oscar II and Queen Sophie by public subscription on the occasion of their silver wedding anniversary in 1882. The collection includes works by, among others, Fritz Thaulow, Hans Gude, Christian Krohg, Harriet Backer, Adelsteen Normann and Otto Sinding and is a rather splendid example of the high standards of Norwegian art of the late nineteenth century. With one exception, the paintings are all normally at the Royal Palace, most of them in rooms which are not accessible during the summer openings, meaning that this is a unique chance to see these artworks.
The majority of the artworks show Norwegian landscapes and coastal motifs, thus reflecting that King Oscar II travelled more widely in Norway than any monarch since Christian IV. Thus there is also a small exhibition dedicated to Oscar II’s travels in Northern Norway in an adjacent room.
The exhibition lasts until 1 September.
The last of the royal jubilee exhibitions will open in Trondheim on 4 June.