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It was here that they were salted, smoked and beheaded before being put into those famous cans, and visitors can try packing plastic versions of the fish themselves.
There is no longer a sardine industry in the town and, during my visit, Norway’s last canning factory in Bergen was due to close.
Today, Stavanger is known for its fine dining and restaurants, and those I tried like Hall Tolov and Tango certainly put on a good show, often of the nouvelle cuisine variety, ie, small but delicious portions. Fish is certainly fresh, and the cod I had at Hall Tolov was the best I have ever eaten.
In a town of museums, the Norwegian Petrol Museum is certainly worth a visit, a modern place full of models of oil derricks, boats, panoramas, rock samples and even a 3-D film about oil exploration in the area.
Alongside they were building a Geopark, an innovative idea in which an activity park for youngsters was being created out of old machinery and parts donated by the oil industry. It was still under construction when I was there, but should be open by now.
Then it was time to meet Mary Miller, the artistic director of Stavanger’s Culture Year. Her office in the centre of town is just above an old bank.
As in Liverpool, there had been a few grumbles about the Culture Year, but generally people are enjoying it, she said. It is being marketed under the title Open Port.
“Because of the oil industry, Stavanger was already known as the energy capital of Europe,” she says. “Now that power is culture.”
Interestingly, she had been in touch in the early days with Robyn Archer, Liverpool’s first artistic director, and an old friend. “We had been planning a few joint ventures but, when Robyn went, it was not to be.”
But there is still a pretty full programme of events, with four artistic residencies at the heart of it with visits from a dance company from Israel, a theatre group from Lithuania, a music theatre company from Belgium and a puppet group from South Africa. Each is creating three productions during their stays.
There will be an open-air theatre project involving fairy tales, three peace events, a folk design exhibition and an art project in which the public is invited to help create various pieces of public art. There is also a lot of music, film and sport.
As with Liverpool, there is a desire to leave a legacy from the year and Miller was particularly keen on the Norwegian Wood project (nothing to do with The Beatles, she hastily pointed out).
As the town boasts the largest number of wooden buildings in Northern Europe, they thought they should have more, so architects were asked to design new ones.
By the end of the year, it is hoped there will be new houses, kindergartens, open-air stages and bridges. There will even be a new cabin at the region’s most inspirational tourist spot, Pulpit Rock, a rock which hovers high above a fjord.
It is a very different programme from Liverpool, perhaps a little more earnest but still with a sense of fun at times.
I went to the Rogaland Art Museum, where artist Shu Lea Cheang had created an installation titled Babylove. This features some giant cups and saucers, each with a giant baby inside. But the fun part comes when visitors are allowed to step into the cups and drive them around the gallery rather like dodgem cars. Crazy but highly entertaining.
"Our cultural friends in the North." Apr 28 2008 by Phil Key, Liverpool Daily Post ...
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