Nora’s Sisters

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First, the Minister of Foreign Affairs sends his best regards to all of you. He attaches considerable importance to this seminar – Nora’s Sisters – and we are all delighted that it is being held here in Israel.

Norway and Israel have historic and close bilateral ties. And I am very pleased to see that over the last few years there has been a positive development in bilateral cultural relations.

This year alone, a large number of Norwegian cultural events are being held in Israel.

Earlier this year the Norwegian writer Per Petterson came to the Jerusalem International Book Fair in connection with the publication of his novel Out Stealing Horses in Hebrew.

Several other Norwegian novels are also in the process of being translated into Hebrew, including Lars Saabye Christensen’s award-winning book The Half Brother and the trilogy Kristin Lavransdatter by Nobel Prize Laureate Sigrid Undset. Israeli children are already familiar with another piece of Norwegian fiction, Karius and Baktus by Torbjørn Egner.

These are just some illustrations of our close bilateral cultural relations, and the Norwegian Government wants to strengthen them further.

Promoting cultural cooperation and supporting cultural activities abroad is an important pillar of our foreign policy.

We have highlighted culture as a separate priority area. At the same time culture is a horizontal issue that cuts across the board.

Why is culture important for us?

Culture is a “soft power” of growing importance in international relations. It provides opportunities for people to meet. It encourages people to interpret and discuss important issues. It broadens our minds and improves our understanding.

Norway wants to use this “soft power” to promote women’s rights and gender equality. We call it soft, but we know just how hard-hitting it can be.

Norway promotes efforts to boost women’s empowerment and social inclusion through culture.

We also want to bring to the fore hidden cultures, to provide opportunities for women’s voices to be heard.

Ibsen’s work is ideal in this context. Although the scenes he creates are set in Norway and are typical of their time, he put freedom of expression, environmental protection, human dignity, corruption, the use of power and gender equality — our topic today –– firmly on the agenda. And he did so in such a way that his plays continue to be relevant. Ibsen does not resolve these issues for us. As he said himself, his calling is to ask questions, not to give answers.

Ibsen wrote about women and the gender roles that he observed in his time. You have all been given a booklet called Nora’s Sisters which implies that women of today still have something in common with Ibsen’s character Nora – a Norwegian middle-class housewife, who lived 130 years ago.

But do we have anything in common?

The fact is that most of us are fighting the same battles as Ibsen’s characters did. We are searching desperately for answers to questions like:

• How do we live truthfully?
• How can we achieve freedom?
• How do we respond to betrayal and social stigma?

Therefore it is a great pleasure for me to introduce the first speaker in the second part of this seminar, which presents brief academic perspectives on the theme of Ibsen and gender equality.

Associate Professor Astrid Sæther from the University of Oslo was Head of the Centre for Ibsen Studies from 1992 to 2000 and again in 2003 and 2005. She is one of Norway’s most prominent Ibsen experts and has served on several boards and councils of cultural institutions in Norway.

Ms Sæther is currently writing a biography of Henrik Ibsen’s wife, Suzannah. I am looking forward to hearing her perspectives on the theme of Suzannah Ibsen – the dramatist’s wife as co-author. It is an honour to give the floor to Astrid Sæther.