European Capitals of Culture “Bodø2024”

The city of Bodø is located north of the Arctic Circle, about an hour and a half’s flight north from Oslo, the capital of Norway. It is the administrative center of Nordland, a county with one of the lowest population densities in Europe. In 2024, the city served as the first-ever European Capital of Culture in the Arctic region. The year-long “Bodø2024 – European Capital of Culture” program held throughout the region comprised some 1,000 events, encompassing art, crafts, theater, dance, music, food, and more.

Introduced in 1985, the European Capital of Culture is one of Europe’s most significant artistic and cultural initiatives, under the auspices of which cities across the continent showcase their arts and culture over a period of one year. The initiative has placed multiculturalism front and center since the beginning, developing into a global event that brings together artists from over 100 countries around the world, including Japan. Given that the initiative aims for strategic, long-term promotion of culture and tourism, the cities chosen as Capitals of Culture have in recent years tended to be smaller regional centers rather than major metropolises. In addition to Bodø, the European Capitals of Culture in 2024 were Tartu (Estonia) and Bad Ischl Salzkammergut (Austria).

Bodø is blessed with a richness of natural resources, which enable the local fishing and tourism industries to thrive. Hosting a NATO airbase, the city was once a Cold War hotspot where nuclear tensions were a part of life, but more recently Bodø has made a strategic choice to restructure its activities with the aim of becoming a city of culture. Its many distinctive cultural facilities include the Stormen Concert Hall and the city library, both of which have won architectural awards; the Jekt Trade Museum, which showcases the history of maritime trade and coastal culture; and the gigantic Norwegian Aviation Museum. Bodø is also home to the indigenous Sami people, whose culture and traditions endure in the region.

The Norwegian Aviation Museum collaborated with museums and institutions in other European Capitals of Culture to initiate a project archiving personal memories from the Cold War period.

In Bodø the sun stays up around the clock for six weeks in summer, while in winter the sun never rises high above the horizon. The concept of the thematic Bodø2024 program was —a reference to the distinctive relationship the people of the Arctic have with sunlight and how this changes during the course of a year. When I visited the city at the end of November, the winter solstice was approaching and the days were getting shorter and shorter; a season when both the city and its people tend to feel downcast. All the major events had ended, and the seasonal theme for the ongoing final chapter was “Arctic Light.” Instead of darkness, the focus was on light, with a program of light-up displays and light installations accompanied by many intimate, small-scale events encouraging reflection.

Another theme that characterized the program was “building capacity through connections.” One of the main reasons that Bodø was selected as a European Capital of Culture was its record with projects targeting youth in northern Norway, a region that has been struggling to halt the outflow of young people. A good example is “UNG2024,” a project planned and executed by young organizers with the aim of making it attractive for their peers. The project demonstrates the role of culture in addressing the increasingly complex regional issues that arise in global society, and supports the nurturing of autonomous leaders and the creation of networks. While Bodø2024 was a grand celebration, it was also a process of diligent dialogue, emphasizing programs that would allow the region to develop on the back of new perspectives.

Henrik Sand Dagfinrud, program director of Bodø2024. “By choosing the title of program director, rather than artistic director, I was able to concentrate on creating connections,” he said.

In the second half of November, as Bodø2024 was entering its final stretch, several live performances by Japanese and Norwegian artists took place. The program was supported by the EU–Japan Fest Japan Foundation, an NGO and partner of the European Capital of Culture initiative, which has provided sustained support for Japan-related events in European Capitals of Culture for more than 30 years since 1993. The Committee is noted for its long-term involvement, encompassing the preparation and organization of events as well as continued initiatives and development efforts. It also facilitates exchange between Japanese and European artists through means such as the building of international networks and the provision of support for international travel. At Bodø2024, the Committee provided support for 11 program components involving artists from Japan. This collaboration was positioned as a starting point for bringing artists from different genres together.

Finnmark fantAsia　November 21, 2024@Stormen Concert Hall Sinus

John-Kåre Hansen (guitar and yoik) x Akihisa Kominato (shakuhachi)　Jonas Karlsen (drums), Martin Vinje (keys)

This live show united composer and musician John-Kåre Hansen and his band and the Japanese shakuhachi performer Akihisa Kominato. A resident of Finnmark, the northernmost part of Norway, Hansen conducts a diverse range of musical activities while cherishing his Sami identity. His album “Finnmark Fantasia” is dedicated to the people who live in the harsh environment of Finnmark. Hansen’s warm guitar melodies complemented the jazz-based performance, while a fresh element of surprise was provided by the expressive shakuhachi sound of Kominato, who works across genres from Japanese to Western and contemporary music. The encore—the most memorable part of the performance—saw Hansen perform a yoik, the traditional form of Sami singing, with Kominato providing an improvised rendition of the Hokkaido folk song “Esashi oiwake.” The resonance of their forceful sounds transcended distance and time, joining together in an expression of Northern spirituality.

Double Concert　November 22–23, 2024@Beddingen Kulturhus

“Seeds in the Wind” Kanako Uzawa (dance, mukkuri (Ainu mouth harp)) x John-Kåre Hansen (guitar, yoik)

Two live performances were held the next day. Kanako Uzawa, an artist who is also an Ainu scholar and rights activist and lives in the city of Tromsø in northern Norway, confronts herself as an Ainu living in the modern world through a distinctive form of physical expression that incorporates aspects of Ainu culture, such as traditional dance and the mukkuri mouth harp. In this performance, she also employed the technique of shadow puppetry. An image of a fjord was projected onto the screen in the center, and the shadow and figure of Uzawa dancing in front of and behind the screen overlapped with the image. Two identities crossed paths on the stage: that of Uzawa, who explores her roots through her own body and strives to connect the past, present, and future, and that of Hansen, who is creating new Sami music.

”HEAR THE DANCE, SEE THE MUSIC” Maiko Nishino (dance) x Marius Gjersø (Trumpet)

After many years as a principal dancer with the Norwegian National Ballet, Maiko Nishino has expanded her activities as a freelance dancer since retiring from the National Ballet. For this performance, she was joined by Marius Gjersø, a composer, music producer, and trumpeter with a keen interest in Japanese culture. The duo employed sound, physical performance, and moving images to conjure up a fantastical world that evoked the Japanese concept of yugen.

“Compared to dancing at an opera house, the distance between the musicians and the audience is much closer tonight, and I find that environment refreshing,” said Nishino. Accompanied by music from Gjersø’s album “Yugen” and employing both a classical and a contemporary approach, she captivated the audience in this intimate space, where the stage and audience became one. Gjersø’s husky trumpet and ambient electronica, and the elegant movements with which Nishino danced through the space, combined with the shifting, abstract images, creating an atmosphere reminiscent of a deep dream. I felt that this immersive experience could well change depending on the characteristics of the venue, and I left wanting to see more.

Rooted in the patchwork of neighboring countries that is Europe, the European Capital of Culture initiative has consistently emphasized cultural diversity. In order to continue thinking about the complex and difficult issues that surround us, we must continue to seek out new encounters. I understood Bodø2024 as an experimental platform for bringing about countless encounters that yield new perspectives.

Translated by Ilmari Saarinen