Norway to finance new Munch Museum

OSLO (AFP) ― Norway’s government said Wednesday it would help finance a new Munch Museum in Oslo in a bid to put an end to a long political squabble that has paralysed the project.

“The state will help establish a new Munch Museum, both in terms of finances and organisation,” Culture Minister Hadia Tajik told Norwegian television news channel TV2 Nyhetskanalen.

But she said Oslo’s city council would have to make a formal request for the support. The city has been struggling for several years to reach agreement on a new museum to replace the current one.

Edvard Munch bequeathed a large part of his collection to the city on his death in 1944, including two versions of “The Scream”, perhaps the most famous expression of existential angst.

The current Munch Museum, constructed cheaply after World War II in a rather rundown Oslo neighbourhood, is not seen as doing justice to the priceless trove.

The city council agreed in 2008 to erect a new museum near the new, futuristic opera house on the shores of the Oslo fjord, but those plans were scrapped three years later over disputes about the cost, location and architecture.

The issue has been at a standstill ever since, and is considered an embarrassment in Norway as it celebrates the 150th anniversary of Munch’s birth.

The current museum is in dire financial straits due to the delays, low visitor numbers, and according to media reports, erratic management.