Queen Sonja of Norway calls art a ‘unifying force in turbulent times’ Anselm Kiefer receives the lifetime achievement award
By Anny Shaw
Queen Sonja of Norway has described art as a “unifying force” at a time when politics has become particularly polarised, not only in Europe but across the globe. Right wing and far-right parties are expected to gain ground in the European elections this week, though Norway is not a part of the EU so Norwegians will not be voting.
Speaking at the Queen Sonja Print Award (QPSA) ceremony in Bodø, northern Norway on Wednesday evening, the queen highlighted the importance of open communication and culture in “turbulent times”. She added: “We just have to go on.” Bodø is one of three European Capitals of Culture in 2024, with at least 1,000 events scheduled for throughout the year.
The historian and television presenter Simon Schama, who gave a talk on the history of printmaking and the work of Anselm Kiefer, thanked Queen Sonja, not only for her “extraordinary work promoting the importance of graphic art”, but for also being “a guardian angel for the integrity of culture” now that the “threatening age of AI is upon us”.
Kiefer was awarded the Queen Sonja Print Award Lifetime Achievement Award, while the Sámi artist Tomas Colbengtson won the Queen Sonja Print Award 2024 and the Swedish artist Maria Kayo Mpoyi won the QSPA Inspirational Award.
[...]
For decades, Schama has written about Kiefer’s work, which encompasses printing, painting and sculpture on a relentlessly large scale. Rooted in his experience growing up in the aftermath of Nazi Germany, Kiefer has continuously wrestled with the dark underbelly of humanity in his work. As Schama puts it, Kiefer is a “peerless master” on the relationship between “nature, pain and memory”. And it is perhaps through a confrontation with pain, tragedy and cruelty, Schama suggests, that a great work of art might possibly bring you some sense of peace.
