The Lofoten Islands Are Norway's Answer to Marfa

Norway’s Lofoten archipelago is made up of six principal, populated, islands and hundreds of smaller ones that are empty of people. With their clear blue waters and craggy Jurassic Park–esque mountains—the highest of which, Higravstinden, soars to 3,800 feet—it’s no surprise that the islands have inspired many an artist.
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    Lofoten's Artistic Legacy

    The Lofoten archipelago is 800 miles from Oslo and 95 miles north of the Arctic Circle. Its remote beauty has long made it popular with artists: Norwegian painter Gunnar Berg made his name depicting Lofoten many times until his death in 1893, and many contemporary artists, like multimedia artist AK Dolven, have been so inspired by the dramatic landscape they’ve made this place their home. The landscape has also appeared in works of classic literature, with Moskstraumen, one of the world’s strongest systems of whirlpools, located off the uninhabited island of Mosken, appearing in the work of both Jules Verne and Edgar Allan Poe. Here are some tips for having an art-focused visit to Lofoten.

  • Getto Spedalsk

    The street artist pair Pøbel and Dolk organized the “Getto Spedalsk” (“Ghetto Leper”) urban art project in 2008 to draw attention to the depopulation and decay occurring in rural Norway. Over several years, they painted murals on abandoned barns throughout the islands. Years of facing the elements have left these murals rather weather-beaten, but the effect now is an appropriately haunting one, as in this “Sleepwalker” by Dolk.

  • Kavi Factory

    Here, 20 minutes from Svolvær, a wind-washed former caviar-processing factory perched on the water now houses the contemporary art gallery, Kavi Factory. Art-collecting couple Venke and Rolf Hoff founded the gallery in 2012 with the intent to offer both local residents and visitors the possibility of experiencing international art in this off-the-grid location. The gallery is currently running a retrospective of Bjarne Melgaard’s work, and he also designed the dog-shaped door handles for the space.

  • Street Art in Henningsvær

    The small village of Henningsvær is home to a surprisingly healthy street-art scene. Pøbel and Dolk, who were the first artists to exhibit at Kavi Factory, left their mark with a number of pieces that comment on the sea and the fishing industry. Most prolific, however, is local Banksy-esque artist Mr. Hmm??, whose playful and colorful images adorn buildings, bus shelters and, as in this homage to the cover of Nirvana’s album Nevermind, the sea.

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  • Fiskeren by Pøbel

    Although they have so far been unsuccessful, oil companies have lobbied hard to conduct oil exploration around Lofoten, presumed to contain vast untapped crude reserves. If they are eventually granted permission, it will likely be catastrophic for the already declining fishing industry. This gives this work by Pøbel, “Fiskeren” (“The Fisherman”)—a portrait of a fisherman smoking a pipe, painted onto a rusting Henningsvær oil container—added resonance.

  • Galleri Espolin

    Grainy scenes of fishing abound in Kabelvåg’s Galleri Espolin, whic is dedicated to the painter and graphic artist, Kaare Espolin Johnson. Born near-sighted in northwestern Norway, Espolin, was almost blind when he developed his own distinctive (and time-consuming) technique of layering soot onto white paper then scraping it off with a blade to create light and shade. The gallery holds 250 pieces by Espolin, who died in 1994, many of which portray the lives of coastal people in northern Norway.

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  • Artscape Nordland

    Artscape Nordland is an international art project intended to make up for the lack of art museums in Nordland county (which includes Lofoten). When the project launched in 1992, Nordland’s residents had to travel long distances to see modern art, so one location-specific sculpture each was planned for 32 of the 45 municipalities. Lofoten is home to five of them, including Dan Graham’s “Uten Titel” (“Untitled”), which captures the light and landscape in its two-way mirror, placing the viewer in the environment and reflecting back the beauty that surrounds them. Find it 20 minutes west of Svolvær.

  • National Tourist Routes

    Eighteen stretches of Norway’s 6,000 miles of national roads have been selected for their scenic beauty and designated National Tourist Routes. Lofoten’s stretch of the E10 road is one such route and, just off it, famed Norwegian architectural practice Snøhetta—designers of the Oslo Opera House as well as the 9/11 Memorial Museum in New York City—have created a service building within an amphitheater for the rest stop at Eggum, a popular site for seeing the midnight sun. Only in Scandinavia can you experience such high-quality architecture on a bathroom break.

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  • Lofoten Opera Hotel

    Though Lofoten’s tourism industry is booming, luxury design hotels are scarce. When it opens, the Snøhetta-designed Lofoten Opera Hotel will change that. Located in a spectacular setting in Moskenes municipality, close to Sørvagen, the hotel will take a serpentine shape, hugging the landscape and stretching toward the sea. There's no firm opening date, though, so stay tuned.

  • Fiskehjeller

    Fiskehjeller, pyramid-shaped racks that are traditionally used for drying cod, are a common sight around Lofoten. In 2010, LIAF’s curators staged performances in a disused rack, then, last year, launched an art festival where the centerpiece sculpture was based on their design. The SALT festival, held near Bodø on the mainland, advocates for climate-change awareness and for the preservation of the traditional fishing communities of the north. After Norway, it will travel to Greenland, Iceland, the Faroe Islands, Spitsbergen, and Scotland.

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  • Bodø Cultural Center

    Make some time in Bodø to visit the new cultural center. Designed by DRDH Architects, its two buildings—which house a three-auditorium concert hall and library—won the Norwegian Award for Building Design 2015, not a bad feat for a small Arctic town. Nearby, Galleri Bodøgaard houses a large collection of work by the landscape painter Oscar Bodøgaard, as well as other northern Scandinavian artists and a large ethnographic collection from northern Norway.

  • Other Cultural Sites in Lofoten

    Beyond art, there's plenty more to do in Lofoten, especially on cold days when you'd rather be inside. In the village of Å, the Norwegian Fishing Village Museum tells the story of Lofoten’s fishing industry over the past 200 years. In Borg, the Lofotr Viking Museum is occupies the largest Viking-era house ever found, former home to one of northern Norway’s most powerful Viking chieftains. It is also the site of August’s annual Lofotr Viking Festival.