Oslo has a strong cultural heritage. The city has been the home of internationally renowned artists such as Edvard Munch and Henrik Ibsen, and they both have museums dedicated to them in Oslo. Other places to see in Oslo are the Vigeland Park at Frogner and the famous Viking Museums and Norwegian explorer museums at Bygdøy. Downtown Oslo feature major theatres, a major international concert hall, and many free theatre groups and musical ensembles, as well as several music clubs that draw the biggest names in the music world. Bjørvika, located in the city centre, is the site of Norway's new National Opera and Ballet House. The opera house is designed by Snøhetta, an Oslo-based architectural firm that has received world-wide recognition.

Holmenkollen, the world's most famous Nordic Ski arena has been an Oslo and Norwegian landmark for decades. It has now been upgraded for the World Ski Championship in February/March 2011 with a spectacular new ski jump, designed by the young Copenhagen-based architect Julien de Smedt.

Oslo is known for its social life and nightlife, with a high density and high quality of bars and cafés in the multicultural city centre. There are several movie theatres, museums and collections to be found and a growing number of excellent international and ethnic restaurants. 

In 2005, the cultural industries, as defined in White Paper 22: “Culture and Industry”, employed a total of 80 600 people in Norway (public and private companies) – and the Oslo region accounts for 50,8 percent of this total. Compared to the Norwegian average, the city of Oslo stands out with three times as many employees in the cultural industries with 8 percent (22,212) of all employees. National average is 2,6 percent in 2005. The national growth from 1995 to 2005 was higher for cultural industries than the average and employment increased with more than 26 percent compared to an average of 17 percent for all industries. (Source: Kulturnæringene i Osloregionen 2006)

Activities around the cultural industries in Norway are still developing. It is also a priority to develop the cultural cluster in the Oslo region. Please contact Elina Kuzjukevica for further information.