Edvard Grieg returns to his Aberdeenshire roots

Edvard Grieg returns to his Aberdeenshire roots

An exhibition commemorating the 100th anniversary of Edvard Grieg’s death has opened at the University of Aberdeen’s Marischal Museum.

Called Art and Identity, the exhibition will be officially opened this evening by the Consul General of Norway, Øystein Hovdkinn, with a private reception and concert.

The musical programme will focus on the cultural and musical relationships between Norway and Scotland based on Grieg, his Scottish origin and Norwegian folk music, the composer's most important inspiration.

Edvard Grieg was born in Bergen on June 15, 1843. His great-great grandfather Alexander Greig (later changed to Grieg) was tenant farmer at Mosstoun of Cairnbulg in the Aberdeenshire parish of Rathen in the mid 1770s.

Althought small in stature, Grieg had an artistic heart that beat for justice, truth and solidarity. He sought to build up a strong national Norwegian culture by refining Norwegian folk music.

Today, many Norwegians, and many foreigners, consider Edvard Grieg`s music to be an integral part of Norway`s national identity.

The exhibition is a joint collaboration project between the Royal Norwegian Consulate General in Edinburgh, the Edvard Grieg Museum – Troldhaugen in Bergen and Marischal Museum in Aberdeen.

"It shows the importance of art for nation building and identity, and it uses Edvard Grieg`s life and music as an example," said Neil Curtis, Senior Curator at Marischal Museum.

"It looks back on a time when Norwegians were greatly concerned with finding and cultivating something that was 'genuinely Norwegian', which they felt had been lost after centuries of foreign rule. Although today's challenges are different from those of 100 years ago, the exhibition illustrates how art can be used to create a sense of belonging and support for common goals."

Art and Identity runs at Marischal Museum from December 3 to February 22, 2008. Tonight's concert features accordionist Jon Faukstad, fiddler Øystein Rudi and North-east Mezzo-Soprano, Sally Garden.

For more information please contact the Royal Norwegian Consulate General, Edinburgh.

www.norway.org.uk/edinburgh

www.grieg07.no

www.abdn.ac.uk/marischal_museum

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