Museums are opening

Louvre in Paris, MoMa in New York, and British Museum in London. After months of corona closure these cultural venues are again open to the public. So is the Nobel Peace Center in Oslo. Museums, theatres, and restaurants in Oslo re-opened this week, after more than six months lockdown.

"Our cultural life what keeps us together as a city. Oslo has been quiet and empty for too long. We are looking forward to be inspired by creativity and new knowledge, and to feel the pulse of city coming back", says Mayor of Oslo, Marianne Borgen.

She was present when the Nobel Peace Center celebrated the re-opening by releasing a peace dove from its window on Friday.

“I am thrilled to welcome our visitors back on Saturday”, says Executive Director of the Nobel Peace Center, Kjersti Fløgstad. “After having spent a lot of time at home, we all feel the need to be inspired and engaged by new experiences. Museums are safe to visit and the perfect place to find new perspectives.”

A lot to catch up

The Nobel Peace Center reopens Saturday 29 May, after the corona sanctions in Oslo were lifted this week. Museums in London and Paris, along with other European cities, reopened last week. And museum visitors across the world have a lot to catch up. According to The Art Newspaper, 41 000 museum days were lost due to corona closure last year: Paris’ famous art museum Louvre was closed for 150 days, the British Museum in London for 208 days and New York’s MoMa for 202 days. Visits to the world’s 100 most-visited art museums dropped by 77 per cent last year – from 230 million visitors in 2019 to 54 million in 2020.

«The Nobel Peace Center is usually a popular attraction for tourists visiting Oslo. Since traveling is still restricted, Norwegian visitors now have a unique opportunity to visit us without queuing up”, Fløgstad says.