'MOTSTANDSBEVEGELSEN', THE NORWEGIAN RESISTANCE

Today, The Grandma has been reading about the Norwegian Manifesto, that calls for nonviolent resistance to the German occupation, on a day like today in 1942.

The Norwegian resistance, in Norwegian Motstandsbevegelsen, to the occupation of Norway by Nazi Germany began after Operation Weserübung in 1940 and ended in 1945. It took several forms:

-Asserting the legitimacy of the exiled government, and by implication the lack of legitimacy of Vidkun Quisling's pro-Nazi regime and Josef Terboven's military administration

-The initial defence in Southern Norway, which was largely disorganised, but succeeded in allowing the government to escape capture

-The more organised military defence and counter-attacks in parts of Western and Northern Norway, aimed at securing strategic positions and the evacuation of the government

-Armed resistance, in the form of sabotage, commando raids, assassinations and other special operations during the occupation

-Civil disobedience and unarmed resistance

The Norwegian government of Prime Minister Johan Nygaardsvold, with the exception of foreign minister Halvdan Koht and minister of defence Birger Ljungberg, was largely caught by surprise when it became apparent in the early hours of 9 April 1940 that Nazi Germany had launched an invasion of Norway. Although some of the country's gold reserve had already been removed from Oslo, there were few contingency plans for such an invasion.

The Norwegian government was unprepared and unwilling to capitulate to the ultimatum timed to coincide with the arrival of German troops and delivered by Curt Bräuer, the German representative in Oslo. The German demand that Norway accept the protection of the Reich was rebuffed by Koht and the Norwegian government before dawn had broken on the morning of invasion. Vi gir oss ikke frivillig, kampen er allerede i gang, replied Koht. We will not submit voluntarily; the struggle is already underway.

Anticipating German efforts to capture the government, the entire Norwegian parliament (the Storting), the royal family, and cabinet hastily evacuated Oslo by train and car to Hamar and then on to Elverum, where an extraordinary session of parliament was called. In large part because of the presence of mind of the parliament's president C. J. Hambro, the Storting managed to pass an emergency measure (known as the Elverum Authorization) that gave full authority to the king and his cabinet until the Storting could convene again.

This gave King Haakon VII and the cabinet constitutional authority to reject the German emissary's ultimatum to accept the German invasion. Although there were several German attempts to capture or kill the King and the Norwegian government, they managed to evade these attempts and travelled through Norway's remote interior until leaving the country for London on the British heavy cruiser HMS Devonshire on 7 June.

More information: The Cross Section

Reserving the constitutional legitimacy of the Norwegian government also undermined Vidkun Quisling's attempts at claiming the Norwegian government for himself. After Quisling had proclaimed his assumption of the government, several individuals on the Supreme Court took the initiative to establish an Administrative Council (Administrasjonsrådet) in an effort to stop him. This became a controversial initiative, in that the legitimate Norwegian government refused to give the council any legal backing, and the German authorities ended up disbanding it.

Although some politicians across the political spectrum had advocated strengthening the country's defence capabilities, a longstanding policy of disarmament following World War I had left the Norwegian military underfunded and undertrained by the late 1930s. As a result, forces in Southern Norway were largely unprepared for the German invasion, and the invading German army met little initial resistance.

There was also spirited defence seen at other locations, including Midtskogen, Hegra and Narvik but these were largely the result of improvised missions by isolated military units and irregular volunteers. The battles slowed the German advance by several days, allowing the Norwegian government to evade capture and conduct critical constitutional business.

The British and French began landing on Norwegian soil within a week of the German invasion.

The first mass outbreak of civil disobedience occurred in the autumn of 1940, when students of Oslo University began to wear paper clips on their lapels to demonstrate their resistance to the German occupiers and their Norwegian collaborators. A seemingly innocuous item, the paper clip was a symbol of solidarity and unity (we are bound together), implying resistance. The wearing of paper clips, the popular H7 monogram and similar symbols (red garments, Bobble hats) was outlawed and could lead to arrest and punishment.

Of lesser military importance was the distribution of illegal newspapers (often with news items culled from Allied news broadcasts; possession of radios was illegal). The purpose of this was twofold: it counteracted Nazi propaganda, and it maintained nationalistic, anti-German feelings in the population at large. It has been suggested that combating the illegal press expended German resources out of proportion to the illegal media's actual effects.

Finally, there was the attempt at maintaining an ice front against the German soldiers. This involved, among other things, never speaking to a German if it could be avoided (many pretended to speak no German, though it was then almost as prevalent as English is now) and refusing to sit beside a German on public transport. The latter was so annoying to the occupying German authorities that it became illegal to stand on a bus if seats were available.

Nazi authorities (both German and Norwegian) attempted to pressure school teachers into supporting the regime and its propaganda. Wages were withheld, and on 20 March 1942, 1100 male teachers were arrested, of which 642 were sent to Arctic Norway doing forced labour.

Towards the end of the war, the resistance became more open, with rudimentary military organizations set up in the forests around the larger cities. A number of Nazi collaborators and officials were killed, and those collaborating with the German or Quisling authorities were ostracized, both during and after the war.

The Norwegian Resistance Museum, at Akershus Fortress, Oslo, gives a good account of the activities of the Norwegian resistance movement.

More information: Kultur Forsvaret

Norway was occupied by the Germans
in the Second World War,
and I've met a lot of people who had to live
through that occupation in varying degrees.

Christopher Heyerdahl

INDIGENOUS AND TRIBAL PEOPLES CONVENTION IN 1989

Today, The Grandma has been reading about the Indigenous and Tribal Peoples Convention, that was ratified for the first time by Norway on a day like today in 1990.

 

The Indigenous and Tribal Peoples Convention, 1989 is an International Labour Organization Convention, also known as ILO Convention 169, or C169. It is the major binding international convention concerning indigenous peoples and tribal peoples, and a forerunner of the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.

This Convention revised Convention C107, the Indigenous and Tribal Populations Convention, 1957. Some of the nations ratifying the 1989 Convention denounced the 1957 Convention.

The ILO 169 convention is the most important operative international law guaranteeing the rights of indigenous and tribal peoples. Its strength, however, is dependent on a high number of ratifications among nations.

The revision to the Convention 107 forbade governments from pursuing approaches deemed integrationist and assimilationist. It asserts the rights of indigenous and tribal peoples to choose to integrate or to maintain their cultural and political independence. Articles 8–10 recognize the cultures, traditions, and special circumstances of indigenous tribal peoples.

In November 2009, a court decision in Chile, considered to be a landmark in indigenous rights concerns, made use of the ILO convention law. The court ruled unanimously in favor of granting a water flow of 9 liters per second to Chusmiza and Usmagama communities. The legal dispute had dragged for 14 years, and centers on community water rights in one of the driest deserts on the planet. The Supreme Court decision on Aymara water rights upholds rulings by both the Pozo Almonte tribunal and the Iquique Court of Appeals, and marks the first judicial application of ILO Convention 169 in Chile.

More information: Woven Teaching

Prior to this decision, some protests had escalated over the failure to respect the Convention 169 in Chile. Mapuche leaders filed an injunction against Michelle Bachelet and minister of the presidency José Antonio Viera Gallo, who is also coordinator of indigenous affairs, with the argument that the government had failed to fully comply with the Convention 169 clause on the right to prior consultation, which must be carried out in good faith and in a form appropriate to the circumstances, with the objective of achieving agreement or consent to the proposed measures, such as logging, agribusiness or mining projects in indigenous territories.

There were already several examples of the successful use of the ILO Convention in Chile, like the case of a Machi woman who brought legal action to protect a plot of land with herbs used for medicinal purposes, which was threatened by the forest industry. Some concerns were however raised at the time over the political framework of the government being brought in line with the convention, and not the other way around.

More information: Gray Group International

If people can't acknowledge
the wisdom of indigenous cultures,
then that's their loss.

Jay Griffiths

BOBBYSOCKS SINGS 'LA DET SWINGE', NORWAY WINS

Bobbysocks!

Today, The Grandma has talked with The Watsons about Bobbysocks!, the Norwegian singers who won the Eurovision Song Contest representing their country in 1985 and singing La det swinge.

Before talking about Bobbysocks!, The Grandma has offered a new Cambridge Key English Test A2 Example to them.

Bobbysocks! is a Norwegian pop duo consisting of Norwegian Hanne Krogh and Swedish-Norwegian Elisabeth Andreassen. They won the Eurovision Song Contest 1985 with the song La det swinge.

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The duo was formed in 1983. Both Krogh and Andreassen were frequent Eurovision contestants. Krogh has appeared three times, all for Norway -in 1971 as a soloist, with Bobbysocks! in 1985 and as part of Just 4 Fun in 1991.

Andreassen sang for Sweden as one half of Chips in 1982 and after winning with Bobbysocks, teamed up with Jan Werner Danielsen in 1994 and sang solo in 1996.

According to John Kennedy O'Connor's The Eurovision Song Contest-The Official History Andreassen is one of only five lead artists to sing in the contest on four occasions and is also one of only four artists to finish both first and second in Eurovision (1985 & 1996).

The duo's debut single was I Don't Wanna Break My Heart (1984), released in a pink colored vinyl. The concept behind Bobbysocks! was to bring up to date songs from the 1950s with a swing mood, adding them a modern 1980s sound. That idea was fully applied on their first LP Bobbysocks!, which was a mixture of covers and brand new songs.

Bobbysocks!

The scheduled next single was going to be Radio, but the plans were changed when the duo won the Eurovision Song Contest. Let It Swing topped the Norwegian singles chart, as well as it did in Belgium. It was a Top 10 in Sweden and Ireland, and a Top 20 in The Netherlands and Austria.

It entered the UK singles charts on 25 May 1985, and rose to a high of Nº 44; it remained in the charts for 4 weeks. It was also pressed in countries such as Germany, Japan and Australia. There were plans to release the single in USA, but it didn't happen at the end.

In 1985, due to their ESC victory, Bobbysocks! were awarded the Peer Gynt Prize, which is awarded by the Stortinget, Norway's parliament.

Another ESC consequence was the re-release of the Bobbysocks! LP with Let It Swing on it, reaching the Gold status. Their next album, Waiting for the Morning, was released in April 1986, preceded by the single of the same name, both becoming a huge success in Norway, peaking at Nº 1 on the Norwegian singles and album charts.

Walkin' on Air, was recorded in L.A. in 1987 and produced by Bill Maxwell. It went Gold in only 4 days, becoming their 3rd and final LP. Just before the release of If I Fall, the album's lead single in Norway, the duo wanted to do something decently crazy as they revealed at the time, so they did a cover of Swing it, magister'n, a song from 1940 originally sung by the Swedish singer and actress Alice Babs, releasing it as single in the summer of 1987.

More information: Eurovision TV

In 1988, Bobbysocks disbanded, after 4 successful years. However, Krogh and Andreassen still appeared time to time together on stage in Norway. They appeared at Congratulations, the 50th anniversary Eurovision concert in Copenhagen, Denmark, in October 2005.

During May 2010, Bobbysocks did a short comeback to celebrate their 25th anniversary since their ESC victory in 1985, launching a compilation album called Let It Swing-The Best Of Bobbysocks!, which included 2 newly recorded songs and peaking at Nº 13 on the Norwegian album charts, helping to gain brand new fans not only in Norway, but also in other countries all over the world.

La det swinge is a song in Norwegian, sung by the pop duo Bobbysocks!. It was the winner of the Eurovision Song Contest 1985 –Norway's first victory in the contest.

Bobbysocks!

The song is a tribute to dancing to old rock 'n' roll heard on the radio. Befitting the subject matter, the song itself is written in an old-fashioned style, with a memorable saxophone melody starting the song. The melody arrangement is in retro style, containing elements of contemporary 1980s music and throwbacks to the 1950s.

The song entered, and won Melodi Grand Prix 1985, and was therefore selected to represent Norway in the Eurovision Song Contest 1985. For the performances, the two members –Hanne Krogh and Elisabeth Andreassen– appeared in sparkling, bright purple jackets, worn over black and white outfits; Krogh sported a black-and-white striped floor-length gown.

At the Eurovision Song Contest, the song was performed thirteenth on the night, following Italy's Al Bano and Romina Power with Magic Oh Magic and preceding the United Kingdom's Vikki Watson with Love Is. At the close of voting, it received 123 points, placing 1st in a field of 19.

This was the second appearance for both Andreasson and Krogh in the Eurovision Song Contest; in 1982 Andreassen had represented Sweden in the duo Chips with Kikki Danielsson singing Dag efter dag, and in 1971 Krogh had finished 17th (second from last) in the contest, with the song Lykken er.

Andreasson went on to appear in the contest on two more occasions –she finished sixth in 1994, performing a duet with Jan Werner Danielsen, entitled simply, Duett and in 1996, she appeared as a solo artist, finishing second to Ireland's Eimear Quinn. Krogh also returned to the Contest in 1991 as part of the group Just 4 Fun, finishing 17th with Mrs. Thompson.

La Det Swinge was succeeded as Norwegian representative at the 1986 Contest by Ketil Stokkan with Romeo.

Following their win, the single La det swinge peaked at #1 in the Norwegian and Belgian singles chart, and entered the charts in Denmark, Sweden, Switzerland, Austria, Ireland, United Kingdom to name a few.

More information: Wiwi Blogs

Fra en radio strømmer gamle melodier
Og jeg våkner opp og spør meg hva som skjer
Er det bare drøm og fantasier
Når jeg føler at det swinger mer og mer?

From a radio old melodies flow
And I wake up and ask myself what's going on
Is this only dream and fantasies
When I feel that it's swinging more and more?
 

Bobbysocks!

AKKALA SÁMI, THE DEATH OF A URALIC LANGUAGE

Sámi group, 1800's

Today, The Grandma wants to talk about Akkala Sámi, a Sámi language.

Sámi languages are a group of Uralic languages spoken by the Sámi people in Northern Europe, in parts of northern Finland, Norway, Sweden and extreme north-western Russia.

The Grandma loves languages. They represent the most beautiful and exciting demonstration of a community, of its culture, traditions and history. Protecting languages must be an obligation for all the governments around the world, especially minority languages that are in danger of being supplanted by other with more speakers. Minorities must be respected and protected as treasures of our past, our present and our future. A community that respects their minorities is a stronger and more democratic one.

On a day like today in 2003, Maria Sergina –the last fluent native speakers of Akkala Sámi- died. When a language dies, a community dies and with it all its culture and history.

More information: National Geographic

Akkala Sámi is a Sámi language that was spoken in the Sámi villages of A´kkel, Ču´kksuâl and Sââ´rvesjäu´rr, in the inland parts of the Kola Peninsula in Russia.

Formerly erroneously regarded as a dialect of Kildin Sámi, it has recently become recognized as an independent Sámi language that is most closely related to its western neighbor Skolt Sámi.

Akkala Sámi is the most endangered Eastern Sámi language. On December 29, 2003, Maria Sergina –the last fluent native speakers of Akkala Sámi– died. However, as of 2011 there were at least two people, both aged 70, with some knowledge of Akkala Sámi. Remaining ethnic Akkala Sámi live in the village Yona.

Although there exist a description of Akkala Sámi phonology and morphology, a few published texts, and archived audio recordings, the Akkala Sami language remains among the most poorly documented Sami languages.

Sámi Family in Finland, 1936

Akkala Sámi has eight cases, singular and plural: nominative, genitive-accusative, partitive, dative-illative, locative, essive, comitative and abessive. Case and number are expressed by a combination of endings and consonant gradation:

-Nominative: no marker in the singular, weak grade in the plural

-Genitive-accusative: weak grade in the singular, weak grade + -i in the plural

-Partitive: this case exists only in the singular, and has the ending -tti͔

-Dative-illative: strong grade + -a, -a͕ or -ɛ in the singular, weak grade + -i in the plural

-Locative: weak grade + -st, -śtˑ in the singular, weak grade + -nˑ in the plural

-Essive: this case exists only in the singular: strong grade + -n

-Comitative: weak grade + -nˑ in the singular, strong grade + -guim, -vuim or -vi̮i̭m in the plural

-Abessive: weak grade + -ta in the singular

More information: Endangered Languages

Sámi languages, in English also rendered as Sami, are a group of Uralic languages spoken by the Sámi people in Northern Europe, in parts of northern Finland, Norway, Sweden and extreme north-western Russia.

There are, depending on the nature and terms of division, ten or more Sami languages. Several spellings have been used for the Sámi languages, including Sámi, Sami, Saami, Saame, Sámic, Samic and Saamic, as well as the exonyms Lappish and Lappic. The last two, along with the term Lapp, are now often considered pejorative.

The Sámi languages form a branch of the Uralic language family. According to the traditional view, Sámi is within the Uralic family most closely related to the Finnic languages. However, this view has recently been doubted by some scholars, who argue that the traditional view of a common Finno-Sami protolanguage is not as strongly supported as had been earlier assumed, and that the similarities may stem from an areal influence on Samic from Finnic.

In terms of internal relationships, the Sami languages are divided into two groups: western and eastern. The groups may be further divided into various subgroups and ultimately individual languages.

Sámi People, Norway

Parts of the Sami language area form a dialect continuum in which the neighbouring languages may be mutually intelligible to a fair degree, but two more widely separated groups will not understand each other's speech. There are, however, some sharp language boundaries, in particular between Northern Sami, Inari Sami and Skolt Sami, the speakers of which are not able to understand each other without learning or long practice.

The evolution of sharp language boundaries seems to suggest a relative isolation of the language speakers from each other and not very intensive contacts between the respective speakers in the past. There is some significance in this, as the geographical barriers between the respective speakers are no different from those in other parts of the Sami area.

The Sami languages are spoken in Sápmi in Northern Europe, in a region stretching over the four countries Norway, Sweden, Finland and Russia, reaching from the southern part of central Scandinavia in the southwest to the tip of the Kola Peninsula in the east.

The borders between the languages do not align with the ones separating the region's modern nation states.

During the Middle Ages and early modern period, now-extinct Sami languages were also spoken in the central and southern parts of Finland and Karelia and in a wider area on the Scandinavian Peninsula. Historical documents as well as Finnish and Karelian oral tradition contain many mentions of the earlier Sami inhabitation in these areas. Also, loanwords as well as place-names of Sami origin in the southern dialects of Finnish and Karelian dialects testify of earlier Sami presence in the area. These Sami languages, however, became extinct later, under the wave of the Finno-Karelian agricultural expansion.

More information: The Bubble

The Proto-Samic language is believed to have formed in the vicinity of the Gulf of Finland between 1000 BC to 700 AD, deriving from a common Proto-Sami-Finnic language.

However, reconstruction of any basic proto-languages in the Uralic family have reached a level close to or identical to Proto-Uralic. According to the comparative linguist Ante Aikio, the Proto-Samic language developed in South Finland or in Karelia around 2000–2500 years ago, spreading then to northern Fennoscandia.

The language is believed to have expanded west and north into Fennoscandia during the Nordic Iron Age, reaching central Scandinavia during the Proto-Scandinavian period ca. 500 AD. The language assimilated several layers of unknown Paleo-European languages from the early hunter-gatherers, first during the Proto-Sami phase and second in the subsequent expansion of the language in the west and the north of Fennoscandia that is part of modern Sami today.

Sámi Flag

At present there are nine living Sami languages. The largest six of the languages have independent literary languages; the three others have no written standard, and of them, there are only a few, mainly elderly, speakers left. The seven written languages are:

-Northern Sami (Norway, Sweden, Finland): With an estimated 15,000 speakers, this accounts for probably more than 75% of all Sami speakers in 2002

-Lule Sami (Norway, Sweden): The second largest group with an estimated 1,500 speakers

-Ume Sami (Norway, Sweden)

-Southern Sami (Norway, Sweden): 500 speakers (estimated)

-Inari Sami (Enare Sami) (Inari, Finland): 500 speakers (estimated)

-Skolt Sami (Näätämö and the Nellim-Keväjärvi districts, Inari municipality, Finland, also spoken in Russia, previously in Norway): 400 speakers (estimated)

-Kildin Sami (Kola Peninsula, Russia): 608 speakers in Murmansk Oblast, 179 in other Russian regions, although 1991 persons stated their Saami ethnicity (1769 of them live in Murmansk Oblast)

More information: IWGIA

The other Sami languages are critically endangered or moribund and have very few speakers left.

Pite Sami has about 30-50 speakers, and a dictionary and an official orthography is under way. A descriptive grammar has been published. Ume Sami likely has under 20 speakers left, and ten speakers of Ter Sami were known to be alive in 2004.

The last speaker of Akkala Sami is known to have died in December 2003, and the eleventh attested variety, Kemi Sami, became extinct in the 19th century. An additional Sami language, Kainuu Sami, became extinct in the 18th century, and probably belonged to the Eastern group like Kemi Sami, although the evidence for the language is limited.

Adopted in April 1988, Article 110a of the Norwegian Constitution states: It is the responsibility of the authorities of the State to create conditions enabling the Sami people to preserve and develop its language, culture and way of life.

The Sami Language Act went into effect in the 1990s. Sámi is an official language alongside Norwegian in the administrative area for Sámi language, that includes eight municipalities in the northern half of Norway, namely Kautokeino, Karasjok, Gáivuotna -Kåfjord- Kaivuono, Nesseby, Porsanger, Tana, Tysfjord, Lavangen and Snåsa.

In 2005 Sámi, Kven, Romanes and Romani were recognised as regional or minority languages in Norway within the framework of the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages.

More information: Life in Norway

On 1 April 2000, Sami became one of five recognized minority languages in Sweden. It can be used in dealing with public authorities in the municipalities of Arjeplog, Gällivare, Jokkmokk, and Kiruna.

In 2011, this list was enlarged considerably. In Sweden the University of Umeå teaches North, Ume and South Sami, and Uppsala University has courses in North, Lule and South Sami.

More information: Sami in Sweden

In Finland, the Sami language act of 1991 granted the Northern, Inari, and Skolt Sami the right to use their languages for all government services.

The Sami Language Act of 2003 made Sami an official language in Enontekiö, Inari, Sodankylä and Utsjoki municipalities. Some documents, such as specific legislation, are translated into these Sami languages, but knowledge of any of these Sami languages among officials is not common. As the major language in the region is Finnish, Sami speakers are essentially always bilingual with Finnish.

Language nest daycares have been set up for teaching the languages to children. In education, Northern Sami, and to a more limited degree, Inari and Skolt Sami, can be studied at primary and secondary levels, both as a mothertongue -for native speakers- and as a foreign language -for non-native speakers.

More information: Visit Finland

In Russia, Sámi has no official status, neither on the national, regional or local level, and no formal recognition as a minority language. Sámi has been taught at the Murmansk University since 2012; before then, Sámi was taught at the Institute of Peoples of the North (Институт народов севера) in Saint Petersburg.

More information: Samediggi

We are the Sami people and we want to be Sami,

without being neither more not less than other people in the world.

We have throughout the history survived and lived in Sápmi,

and we have a culture that we want to continue to thrive.

Mikael Ursi

EDVARD MUNCH, NIHILISM & PSYCHOLOGY IN PAINTING

Edvard Munch

Today, The Grandma has received the wonderful visit of her closer friend Tina Picotes.

Tina is a great painter and expert in Art and they have been talking about the incredible Edvard Munch, the Norwegian painter, and his amazing and interesting works. Edvard Munch was born on a day like today in 1863 and Tina Picotes and The Grandma have wanted to homage him talking about his life and his universal paintings.

Before Tina's arrival, The Grandma has started to read a new novel titled Treading on Dreams-Stories from Ireland written by Clare West.

Edvard Munch (12 December 1863-23 January 1944) was a Norwegian painter, whose best known work, The Scream, has become one of the most iconic images of world art.

His childhood was overshadowed by illness, bereavement and the dread of inheriting a mental condition that ran in the family. Studying at the Royal School of Art and Design in Kristiania, today's Oslo, Munch began to live a bohemian life under the influence of nihilist Hans Jæger, who urged him to paint his own emotional and psychological state, soul painting. From this would presently emerge his distinctive style.

More information: Edvard Munch

Travel brought new influences and new outlets. In Paris, he learned much from Paul Gauguin, Vincent van Gogh and Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, especially their use of colour. In Berlin, he met Swedish dramatist August Strindberg, whom he painted, as he embarked on his major canon The Frieze of Life, depicting a series of deeply-felt themes such as love, anxiety, jealousy and betrayal, steeped in atmosphere.

The Storm by Edvard Munch, 1893

But it was back in Kristiania that his legendary work The Scream was conceived. According to Munch, he was out walking at sunset, when he heard the enormous, infinite scream of nature. That agonised face is widely identified with the angst of modern man.

Between 1893 and 1910, he made two painted versions and two in pastels, as well as a number of prints. One of the pastels would eventually command the fourth highest nominal price paid for a painting at auction.

As his fame and wealth grew, his emotional state remained as insecure as ever. He briefly considered marriage, but could not commit himself. A breakdown in 1908 forced him to give up heavy drinking, and he was cheered by his increasing acceptance by the people of Kristiania and exposure in the city's museums. His later years were spent working in peace and privacy. Although his works were banned in Nazi Germany, most of them survived World War II, ensuring him a secure legacy.

Edvard Munch was born in a farmhouse in the village of Ådalsbruk in Løten, Norway, to Laura Catherine Bjølstad and Christian Munch, the son of a priest. Christian was a doctor and medical officer who married Laura, a woman half his age, in 1861. Edvard had an elder sister, Johanne Sophie, and three younger siblings: Peter Andreas, Laura Catherine, and Inger Marie. Laura was artistically talented and may have encouraged Edvard and Sophie. Edvard was related to painter Jacob Munch and to historian Peter Andreas Munch.

More information: Munch Museet

The family moved to Christiania, renamed Kristiania in 1877, and now Oslo, in 1864 when Christian Munch was appointed medical officer at Akershus Fortress. Edvard's mother died of tuberculosis in 1868, as did Munch's favorite sister Johanne Sophie in 1877.

In 1879, Munch enrolled in a technical college to study engineering, where he excelled in physics, chemistry and math. He learned scaled and perspective drawing, but frequent illnesses interrupted his studies. The following year, much to his father's disappointment, Munch left the college determined to become a painter. His father viewed art as an unholy trade, and his neighbors reacted bitterly and sent him anonymous letters. In contrast to his father's rabid pietism, Munch adopted an undogmatic stance toward art. He wrote his goal in his diary: in my art I attempt to explain life and its meaning to myself.

Anxiety by Edvard Munch, 1894

In 1881, Munch enrolled at the Royal School of Art and Design of Kristiania, one of whose founders was his distant relative Jacob Munch. His teachers were sculptor Julius Middelthun and the naturalistic painter Christian Krohg. That year, Munch demonstrated his quick absorption of his figure training at the Academy in his first portraits, including one of his father and his first self-portrait.

In 1883, Munch took part in his first public exhibition and shared a studio with other students. His full-length portrait of Karl Jensen-Hjell, a notorious bohemian-about-town, earned a critic's dismissive response: It is impressionism carried to the extreme. It is a travesty of art. Munch's nude paintings from this period survive only in sketches, except for Standing Nude (1887). They may have been confiscated by his father.

During these early years, Munch experimented with many styles, including Naturalism and Impressionism. Some early works are reminiscent of Manet.

Munch continued to employ a variety of brushstroke techniques and color palettes throughout the 1880s and early 1890s, as he struggled to define his style. His idiom continued to veer between naturalistic, as seen in Portrait of Hans Jæger, and impressionistic, as in Rue Lafayette.

More information: The Art Story

His Inger On the Beach (1889), which caused another storm of confusion and controversy, hints at the simplified forms, heavy outlines, sharp contrasts, and emotional content of his mature style to come. He began to carefully calculate his compositions to create tension and emotion. While stylistically influenced by the Post-Impressionists, what evolved was a subject matter which was symbolist in content, depicting a state of mind rather than an external reality.

In 1889, Munch presented his first one-man show of nearly all his works to date. The recognition it received led to a two-year state scholarship to study in Paris under French painter Léon Bonnat.

Munch arrived in Paris during the festivities of the Exposition Universelle (1889) and roomed with two fellow Norwegian artists. His picture Morning (1884) was displayed at the Norwegian pavilion.

Munch was enthralled by the vast display of modern European art, including the works of three artists who would prove influential: Paul Gauguin, Vincent van Gogh, and Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec -all notable for how they used color to convey emotion.

The Scream by Edvard Munch, 1893

Munch was particularly inspired by Gauguin's reaction against realism and his credo that art was human work and not an imitation of Nature, a belief earlier stated by Whistler. By 1892, Munch formulated his characteristic, and original, Synthetist aesthetic, as seen in Melancholy (1891), in which color is the symbol-laden element. 

Considered by the artist and journalist Christian Krohg as the first Symbolist painting by a Norwegian artist, Melancholy was exhibited in 1891 at the Autumn Exhibition in Oslo.

The Scream exists in four versions: two pastels (1893 and 1895) and two paintings (1893 and 1910). There are also several lithographs of The Scream (1895 and later).

The 1895 pastel sold at auction on 2 May 2012 for US$119,922,500, including commission. It is the most colorful of the versions and is distinctive for the downward-looking stance of one of its background figures. It is also the only version not held by a Norwegian museum.

The 1893 version was stolen from the National Gallery in Oslo in 1994 and recovered. The 1910 painting was stolen in 2004 from The Munch Museum in Oslo, but recovered in 2006 with limited damage.

More information: Life in Norway

The Scream is Munch's most famous work, and one of the most recognizable paintings in all art. It has been widely interpreted as representing the universal anxiety of modern man. Painted with broad bands of garish color and highly simplified forms, and employing a high viewpoint, it reduces the agonized figure to a garbed skull in the throes of an emotional crisis.

With this painting, Munch met his stated goal of the study of the soul, that is to say the study of my own self. Munch wrote of how the painting came to be: I was walking down the road with two friends when the sun set; suddenly, the sky turned as red as blood. I stopped and leaned against the fence, feeling unspeakably tired. Tongues of fire and blood stretched over the bluish black fjord. My friends went on walking, while I lagged behind, shivering with fear. Then I heard the enormous, infinite scream of nature. He later described the personal anguish behind the painting, for several years I was almost mad… You know my picture, 'The Scream?' I was stretched to the limit -nature was screaming in my blood… After that I gave up hope ever of being able to love again.

Separation by Edvard Munch, 1896

In 1896, Munch moved to Paris, where he focused on graphic representations of his Frieze of Life themes. He further developed his woodcut and lithographic technique. In the autumn of 1908, Munch's anxiety, compounded by excessive drinking and brawling, had become acute.

The outbreak of World War I found Munch with divided loyalties, as he stated, All my friends are German but it is France I love. In the 1930s, his German patrons, many Jewish, lost their fortunes and some their lives during the rise of the Nazi movement. Munch found Norwegian printers to substitute for the Germans who had been printing his graphic work. Given his poor health history, during 1918 Munch felt himself lucky to have survived a bout of the Spanish flu, the worldwide pandemic of that year.

More information: The British Museum

Munch spent most of his last two decades in solitude at his nearly self-sufficient estate in Ekely, at Skøyen, Oslo.

In 1940, the Germans invaded Norway and the Nazi party took over the government. Munch was 76 years old. With nearly an entire collection of his art in the second floor of his house, Munch lived in fear of a Nazi confiscation. Seventy-one of the paintings previously taken by the Nazis had been returned to Norway through purchase by collectors, the other eleven were never recovered, including The Scream and The Sick Child, and they too were hidden from the Nazis.

Munch died in his house at Ekely near Oslo on 23 January 1944, about a month after his 80th birthday. His Nazi-orchestrated funeral suggested to Norwegians that he was a Nazi sympathizer, a kind of appropriation of the independent artist. The city of Oslo bought the Ekely estate from Munch's heirs in 1946; his house was demolished in May 1960.

When Munch died, his remaining works were bequeathed to the city of Oslo, which built the Munch Museum at Tøyen, it opened in 1963. The museum holds a collection of approximately 1,100 paintings, 4,500 drawings, and 18,000 prints, the broadest collection of his works in the world.

More information: The Telegraph

Painting picture by picture,

followed the impressions my eye took in at heightened moments.

I painted only memories, adding nothing, no details that I did not see.

Hence the simplicity of the paintings, their emptiness.

Edvard Munch

MERCHE A.H.JONES, THE NORWEGIAN SPIRIT OF NATURE

Merche Jones at the Norwegian Fjords

Merche Addams-Holmes-Jones. Twister Chaser and Mountain Climber. Norway.

I'm Merche Jones. I was born in Trondheim in Norway. Perhaps because I was born in a mountainous and cold country, I love nature. I love winter sports and climbing. I'm a mountain climber and a twister chaser. Climbing can cure, I'm sure. Being in contact with nature is something fascinating but dangerous. You must know that you are a part of Nature and it can control your future. I'm reading a fantastic book: Victor Riverola's Mountain and life. I recommend it. I'm a crazy fan of Killian Jornet. He's a superhero. I have been a member of three different families which I adore and respect.

-Good morning, Merche Jones, and thanks to attend us.

-Good morning. It's a pleasure.

-Well, to start this interview I would like to know how you define yourself.

-I'm a mountain climber and twister chaser, a person who climbs mountains trying to arrive to the summit and who chases twisters, hurricanes and tornados. They are beautiful and dangerous jobs because you are in extreme contact with nature and its forces and, as you know, nature is unpredictable.

-Some people don't believe that climbing and chasing twisters are jobs. Could you explain it to them?

-A job is a union of skills and knowledge that you have to do something. Then, you receive some money for this effort. It's simple. It's the difference between amateur and professional sport. Amateur is done by leisure but professional is done to earn money. In my case, I have my sponsors which pay me some money if I arrive to reach some objectives. That's all.

-What is your motto when you are climbing?

-'Impossible is nothing' although you must be clever to know when is a good moment to continue and to stop. In my case, it's my life which is in danger and you must be brave but sensible. Nature is incredible nut it's also very dangerous because you can't control it and although you can predict some phenomenon, you can't do it with 100% of security. You live in the world of predictions and you must take some important decisions in only some minutes because your life depends on it.

-And when you are chasing twisters?

-'See and escape'. You're in a big danger when you are near a twister but it's an incredible feeling that you must live at least once in your life.

-Do you believe mountains have a part of mysticism?

-All things which have a connection with the unexpected world need a part of mysticism and perhaps this is good because we will continue respecting them. You must be afraid of danger; you must respect the mountain because although it is able to offer to you incredible moments and experiences, it can kill you, too.

-How do you feel being a member of The Jones?

-Well, very well. We're a great family full of happiness, collaboration and sense of humour. I like enjoying time with them. They are a great and unforgettable family.

-How is a normal day with The Jones?

-I think there isn't a normal day, if you consider normal like standard. Every day is a different day, isn't it? Then, why is the reason you try to do the same every day? Today is May, 15 2018. Is another date like this going to exist? No. This is our philosophy: enjoy your time and do whatever you wish because impossible is nothing.

-How long have you been studying English?

-Since I was a child. I'm from Trondheim, a town in Norway. On one hand, English is studied at school in Norway since you're a child. On another hand, if you are a professional climber, you travel to other countries to climb as important mountains as you can and English is the common language in this profession.

-Then, you speak two languages? Is it very difficult to do it?

-Well, in fact, I speak three languages: Norwegian, English and Sami. 

-What is Sami?

-Sami is a Uralic which is spoken in parts of northern Finland, Norway, Sweden and extreme north-western Russia.

-Which is the real situation of these languages?

-All of them are protected and recognized by the Norwegian Parliament. The UNESCO has elaborated a great project for recovering as languages as it was possible but to keep a language is very important the conscience of being a part of this language, of being a part of this community, of sharing culture and habits and nowadays, in a global world, this is more difficult, although I think we are in the correct way. Some of these languages are alive because they have survived thanks to the geography. Their speakers live in mountainous zones with difficult access and this has allowed their survival. New roads, new links and new communications are putting in danger these communities. In Norway lives a Romani community which, obviously, speaks Romani. 

-Do you believe the new generations will keep the language?

-Yes. Although living in a global world means diversity, and diversity is something very good, every human needs to belong to somewhere, and even your life was a constant travel when you go to sleep and think to yourself, you speak only one language. This language determinates your culture and your culture indicates your place. We are the best ambassadors of our cultures.

-Why are you interested in these languages?

-Because I'm also a climber and these communities live in the mountains. If you want to climb a mountain you must know it. You must know people who live around it because they know it perfectly and they are the best guides and advisers. They know the weather and the geographical conditions better than anyone and the mountain is a part of their home, then, if you want to understand the mountain, you must understand the community and language is a great tool of integration.

-What can you explain about your life with The Jones?

-Well, we're a multicultural family and this is one of our great secrets. You learn something every day because every one of us has something to explain and share. It's amazing and beautiful but we must accept that all has a beginning and an end.

-And after?

-We will never forget this experience. We will continue being a Jones but every one of us will take his/her path although he/she knows that he/she is not alone and we will be always a united family.

-Which is your best memory with the family?

-It's difficult to choose only one but I remember every time we play bingo. I was the speaker and we spent funny moments. My family is very competitive and everybody wanted to win. I like this because demonstrate a great spirit of overcoming and effort.

-Do you believe that 'Impossible is nothing' for The Jones?

-Of course. We can achieve whatever we propose. Now, we are in better conditions than three months ago.

-Why?

-Because, when we start we were sixteen individualities and now we are one team. You work better knowing that you aren't alone and you can trust in your family because they are always there to help you if you need them. This is very important to get over problems and bad moments.

-Do you like this message?

-Yes. It's a great message of motivation to arrive to reach your objectives. If nobody had believed in doing things, we would have lived Prehistoric times and we're in 21th century. Take Killian Jornet as an example and you realize that 'Impossible is nothing'.

-What do you do when you return at home after climbing a high mountain?

-I like staying with my dog and my cat. I love them. My dog is an amazing loyal animal which likes playing with his ball and walking out with me. He's a middle-size light brown dog with a crazy personality. He's lovely and very protector. My cat is a small Persian. She is very nice and she likes climbing furniture. She's a climber like me (Laughs). When I arrive at home, I like sitting on the sofa, drinking a cold drink and watching a good film with them.

-What are their names?

-Mont and Cayo.

-Who is who?

-Mont is the cat and Cayo the dog.

-Thank you very much, Merche Jones.

-Thanks to you.

One time, to know that it's real.
One time, to know how it feels.
That's all.
What do you see?
What do you know?
One sign, what'll I do?
Just follow your lifeline through.

A-ha

M.JOSÉ BOND: OPEN HAPPINESS FROM NORWAY

M.José Bond in her Viking ship

M.José Bond. Writer. Norway.

I was born in Trondheim, Norway in the Scandinavian lands. We are the country with the highest level of happiness. 

I'm a writer, a person who writes stories, who has something to explain, who can create fantastic worlds or terrible nightmares. 

I like literature and I was influenced by Hulda Garborg, one of the best Norwegian writers but also by an incredible painter: Edvard Munch.  I love sailing and I would like to write the story of the Vikings, my ancestors.

-Good morning, M.José Bond, and thanks to attend us.

-Good morning. It's a pleasure.

-It's difficult for me, as an interviewer, to sum up some questions about you.

-Why?

-Because of your job.

-Well, I'm a writer, a person who creates stories and shares them with other people.

-You create characters, you invent stories, you imagine places... how can I be sure that you're who you say that you are?

-You will never know it. It's a risk that you have to choose: believe me or not.
 

-How is the life of a writer?

-A normal one like other people. Writing isn't only a pleasure or hobby for me, it's also my profession, and then, I must write even these days when I'm not very inspired.

-What happens these days?

-Well, you must write and you can read it again next day. If you like writing, you continue writing, if you don't like, you change it and you start again.

-How many times have you started again?

-Every day. Every new day is a new beginning and you must start doing things to fill your life with your interests and hopes.

-Norway isn't a famous country... How can a Norwegian writer arrive to be a best seller and survive against the Anglo-Saxon competence?

-Creating good contents. Writing interesting books and I don't agree about the idea that Norway isn't a famous country.

-Why?

-Norway has extensive reserves of petroleum, natural gas, minerals, lumber, seafood, fresh water and hydropower. We are the world's largest producer of oil and natural gas outside the Middle East. We have the fourth-highest per capita income in the world on the World Bank; the highest Human Development Index ranking in the world; the highest inequality-adjusted ranking. We rank first on the World Happiness Report, the OECD Better Life Index, the Index of Public Integrity and the Democracy Index and all of these things without being a member of the European Union, because Norway belongs to the EFTA.

-Norway was one of the poorest countries in the beginning of the last century. How has been possible this success?

-We are great administrators of our resources. We control all our richness and we believe in the most important active that a country has: our people.
 

-How do you feel being a member of The Bond's family?

-It's the same that Norway. The most important active in our family is ourselves. We're people with great energy and creativity and we must believe in ourselves.
 

-How is a normal day with The Bonds?

-A normal day is a day full of happiness and effort. We laugh a lot but we work very hard. You learn better if you spend good time. It's easier.

-How long have you been studying English?

-Since I was in the school. I belong to the Sami community. I speak Sami and Norwegian, the two official languages but there are three more recognized languages: Kven, Tavringer and Romani.

-Romani in Norway?

-Yes, of course. There's an important Romani community in Norway and we respect its language and culture. The question is not why we protect Romani language; the question is why Portugal, Spain, Italy or France don't protect it when the Romani community is bigger in these countries.

-Why?

-I don't know. I'm Norwegian but, perhaps they don't respect their diversity in the way we do it. Romani people are an incredible community which one day left Egypt and started to write a story of migrations, surviving, art and resistance. They wrote their history but, at the same time, they wrote our own history. I'm a member of the Sami community. I can understand Romani people very well, in fact, our flags are very similar. We need to write our history because if we don't do it, other people will do for us.

-Then English is not difficult to learn for a Norwegian?

-We have the same mother language, German. It's an advantage. 

-What can you explain about your life with The Bonds?

-It has been a great experience, a great source of inspiration to write something in the future.

-Which is your best memory with the family?

-It's impossible to choose only one but I remember two special days: one with Joanjo Bond when we won Eurovision representing Cyprus and Norway together and another when I talked about The Lovers of Teruel, an Aragonese couple with a tragic final. I'm a writer. I enjoyed composing the Eurovision song and I enjoyed reading the Aragonese story.

-Which character would you like to write about?

-My hero is Roald Amundsen, the Norwegian explorer who was the first to reach the South Pole, on 14 December 1911 and the first expedition leader for the air expedition to the North Pole in 1926.

-Do you like exploring?

-I'm a writer. I'm curious. I need to know. I need to discover new things. I love prospectors. I remember the story of American prospectors who were cold because they had thin trousers and Levi Strauss used the sailcloth which he transported to make stronger ones.

-A mix of prospector and explorer could be Christopher Columbus?

-Well, it's not my favourite.

-Why not?

-The modern story says that Columbus sailed from Spain on August 3rd, 1492 to the west. After ten weeks, a sailor saw a bird. They had arrived to land and they named the island San Salvador. So he discovered that the Earth was round.

-And?

-The modern story must say that Columbus was the last European to discover the American continent. Native American lived in the continent and science has demonstrated that Vikings had arrived to America before Columbus because there are some inscriptions older than his arrival.

-What is your next project?

-I'm working in a Christmas story, a tribute to Charles Dickens and his Christmas Carol. 

-What's the worst nightmare of a writer?

-I suppose every writer has his/her own demons, his/her own Frankenstein. I hate sharks. It's an interesting animal because they mainly live in the oceans; they eat fish, seals, crabs and sea birds. We can find more than 250 types of sharks and my worst nightmare is swimming near one of them.

-You're a writer. Can you write a slogan for The Bonds?

-Open happiness.

-Thank you very much, M.José Bond.

-You're welcome.

We must always remember with gratitude and admiration the first sailors who steered their vessels through storms and mists, 
and increased our knowledge of the lands of ice in the South. 

Roald Amundsen