The Arts

Although Norway comprises one of the world's smallest language communities, the country is among the leaders in books published per capita. The annual number of new titles is more than 6,000, of which three-fifths are of Norwegian origin. Literature is subsidized through a variety of means, including tax exemption, grants to writers, and government purchasing for libraries. In all, there are about 5,000 public or school libraries, which annually lend some 24 million books.

Permanent theatres have been established in several cities, and the state traveling theatre, the Riksteatret, organizes tours throughout the country, giving as many as 1,200 performances annually. The Norwegian Opera, opened in 1959, requires state subsidies (as do most other theatres). Films in Norway are subject to censorship, primarily on grounds of violence and, to a lesser extent, erotic content. The production of Norwegian-made feature films is subsidized, but they usually number about 10 each year.

In addition to its National Art Gallery, Oslo opened a special museum in 1963 to honour Edvard Munch, probably Norway's most famous painter. The Sonja Henie–Niels Onstad Art Centre, opened in 1968 near Oslo, contains modern art from throughout the world.

Norwegian painters of the 20th century have excelled in murals to such an extent that they are rivaled only by Mexican painters. Other artists are world-renowned for their multimedia assemblages, pictorial weaving, and nonfigurative art in sculpture as well as painting. The works of Gustav Vigeland have been assembled in Oslo's Vigeland sculpture park (Frogner Park) in a spectacular display centred around a granite monolith nearly 60 feet (18 metres) high containing 121 struggling figures.