Ibsenhuset is a

Norwegian Norwegian, Norwayan, or Norsk may refer to: *Something of, from, or related to Norway, a country in northwestern Europe * Norwegians, both a nation and an ethnic group native to Norway * Demographics of Norway *The Norwegian language, including ...

cultural centre A cultural center or cultural centre is an organization, building or complex that promotes culture and arts. Cultural centers can be neighborhood community arts organizations, private facilities, government-sponsored, or activist-run. Asia * Cen ...

in the

city A city is a human settlement of notable size.Goodall, B. (1987) ''The Penguin Dictionary of Human Geography''. London: Penguin.Kuper, A. and Kuper, J., eds (1996) ''The Social Science Encyclopedia''. 2nd edition. London: Routledge. It can be def ...

Skien Skien () is a city and municipality in Vestfold og Telemark county in Norway. In modern times it is regarded as part of the traditional region of Grenland, although historically it belonged to Grenmar/Skiensfjorden, while Grenland referred the Norsj ...

Vestfold og Telemark Vestfold og Telemark (; ) is a county under disestablishment in Norway. The county is the southernmost one of Eastern Norway and consists of two distinct and separate traditional regions: the former counties of Telemark and (most of) Vestfold. T ...

county A county is a geographic region of a country used for administrative or other purposesChambers Dictionary, L. Brookes (ed.), 2005, Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd, Edinburgh in certain modern nations. The term is derived from the Old French ...

. The

building A building, or edifice, is an enclosed structure with a roof and walls standing more or less permanently in one place, such as a house or factory (although there's also portable buildings). Buildings come in a variety of sizes, shapes, and fun ...

houses several facilities for concerts, theater performances, opera, exhibits, conferences, courses, meetings and other events. There are also a restaurant and the town's main library in the building. International and national artists and entertainers have performed at Ibsenhuset. The name Ibsenhuset is derived from

Henrik Ibsen Henrik Johan Ibsen (; ; 20 March 1828 – 23 May 1906) was a Norwegian playwright and theatre director. As one of the founders of modernism in theatre, Ibsen is often referred to as "the father of realism" and one of the most influential playw ...

's last name and from "huset", Norwegian for a house or building. Ibsen was born in Skien 20 March 1828 and lived in different locations in town until he was 15 years old. The Norwegian Ibsen award is annually presented at Ibsenhuset to promising playwrights. Ibsenhuset may also refer to another "Ibsenhuset" in a museum in the Norwegian town of

Grimstad Grimstad () is a municipality in Agder county, Norway. It belongs to the geographical region of Sørlandet. The administrative center of the municipality is the town of Grimstad. Some of the villages in Grimstad include Eide, Espenes, Fevik, ...

, or to some of Ibsen's various homes.

History

The building was opened on the 9 September 1973 in downtown

as the most modern culture and arts centre in

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and t ...

. Planning for the facility had begun shortly after

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

at the initiative of the labour unions in the city. Ibsenhuset was named after the famous

poet and

playwright A playwright or dramatist is a person who writes plays. Etymology The word "play" is from Middle English pleye, from Old English plæġ, pleġa, plæġa ("play, exercise; sport, game; drama, applause"). The word "wright" is an archaic English ...

. The building was fully renovated in 2013, with economic support from the city.

Operation

The cultural centre is operated by a private company, Ibsenhuset AS, and it is economically supported by the city and the county, with a local political council contributing to the operation. In 2013 the centre employed 14 persons. The goal of the operation is to maintain an activity and arts centre for the local community population in

Grenland Grenland is a traditional district in the county of Vestfold og Telemark, in the south-east of Norway. Located in the southeastern part of the county, Grenland is composed of the municipalities Skien, Porsgrunn, Bamble, and Siljan. Sometimes the ...

and

Telemark Telemark is a traditional region, a former county, and a current electoral district in southern Norway. In 2020, Telemark merged with the former county of Vestfold to form the county of Vestfold og Telemark. Telemark borders the traditional ...

. The centre is also supported financially by local firms as sponsors.

Facilities

The building has an 800m²

foyer A lobby is a room in a building used for entry from the outside. Sometimes referred to as a foyer, reception area or an entrance hall, it is often a large room or complex of rooms (in a theatre, opera house, concert hall, showroom, cinema, etc. ...

which houses a ticket counter, a bar, a kiosk and entry to all the larger halls. The

is also used for art installations and small concerts. Skien's art association has its base in the foyer and hosts gallery openings and exhibits there. All of the main rooms in the building are named after elements of Henrik Ibsens' writings. The building currently houses large concert hall, "Dovregubbens hall" (

In the Hall of the Mountain King "In the Hall of the Mountain King" ( no, I Dovregubbens hall, , In the Dovre man's hall, link=no, italic=no) is a piece of orchestral music composed by Edvard Grieg in 1875 as incidental music for the sixth scene of act 2 in Henrik Ibsen's 1867 ...

), accommodating 800 guests; the smaller "Peer Gynt hall" takes up to 250 people. There are audio

studio A studio is an artist or worker's workroom. This can be for the purpose of acting, architecture, painting, pottery (ceramics), sculpture, origami, woodworking, scrapbooking, photography, graphic design, filmmaking, animation, industrial design ...

facilities, and the city's culture school has rooms for instruction and rehearsals. The main city

public library A public library is a library that is accessible by the general public and is usually funded from public sources, such as taxes. It is operated by librarians and library paraprofessionals, who are also Civil service, civil servants. There are ...

is also located in the building. A restaurant in the building also offers catering services for events. Future projects currently being discussed include further expansion and potential combination with a hotel.Vurderer hotell i Ibsenhuset , ta.no
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References

External links

* http://ibsenhuset.no/ {{Coord, 59, 12, 27, N, 9, 36, 19, E, region:NO_source:kolossus-nowiki, display=title 1973 establishments in Norway Buildings and structures in Skien Culture in Vestfold og Telemark Henrik Ibsen