This year it is 150 years since the birth of Knut Hamsun. The date is in early August, and the occasion will be celebrated all over the Salten region with an event entitled “En route in the World of Hamsun”.

In early June there will be another anniversary, it being 130 years since the meeting of Knut Hamsun and North Norway’s then richest man, merchant Erasmus Zahl from Kjerringøy.


On Wednesday 25 March 2009, gallery owner Malgosia Wroblewska and project leader Wenche Torrissen presented their plans for a joint project involving Kjerringøy marketing council (Kjerringøy markedsråd), Salten Cultural Collaboration Committee (Salten kultursamarbeid) and Visit Bodø. Together, they are important participants in the “Hamsun in Film and Art” project and in the further development of the exhibitions in Zahl’s Barn (Zahlfjøsen). This is the world’s biggest Hamsun film exhibition and collection of Hamsun illustrations.

“On June 5 it will be 130 years since Knut Pedersen went ashore at the trading post in Kjerringøy to receive his NOK 1600 loan from cargo vessel owner and merchant Zahl. The loan, which was to render possible the publication of the novel “Frida”  by a major publishing company in Copenhagen, was increased with a further NOK 400 later in the year. We wish to celebrate these two anniversaries with the help of several events during the summer,” they told the online newspaper www.ab24.no.


Pan Revisited
“Our celebration of Hamsun Year begins with the weekend of June 5-7, when Karl Erik Harr opens the exhibition “Pan Revisited”. Here, visitors will be able to see the original illustrations from the Norwegian Book Club edition of Hamsun’s novel “Pan” from 1973. The illustrations were discovered by chance last autumn in a bank box in the Sparebank1 in Oslo, after nigh on 40 years in oblivion. This summer, the exhibitions will also be extended to include several more artists and modes of artistic expression on even more spacious premises. Read more about Zahl’s Barn at www.kjerringøy.info.

Hamsun in Film and Art
The first weekend of events will take place on June 5-7, and it is quite a list they intend to tempt tourists and locals with:

Friday 5 June

• Kjerringøy School: “The Old Days” at the Trading Post
• Kjerringøy Theatre Company presents tableaux dramatising life at the Trading Post in the spring of 1879
• Bjørn Skagestad and Arild Andersen entertain with their interpretation of  “The Wild Choir” (Det Vilde Kor)
• Kjerringøy Theatre Company presents tableaux about the young Knut Pedersen’s meeting with merchant Zahl
• Film show in Zahl’s Barn
• Nightly voyage on a fembøring/åttring – Nordland type sailing/rowing vessel (private event)

Saturday 6 June

• Vernissage and opening of Karl Erik Harr’s new exhibition “Pan Revisited” in Zahl’s Barn
• Seminar on Hamsun in Nordland at Kjerringøy Trading Post.

Speakers:
Opening  by Leif Hamsun
Ronald Nilsen Altinius “Hamsun’s connections with Bodø and Kjerringøy”.
Karl Erik Harr “Places in the Works of Hamsun”.
Nils Magnar Knudsen “Screen Versions of the Works of Hamsun”
Dinner and public celebrations “A Hamsunian Gala Night” at Kjerringøy Brygge

Sunday 7 June

• Gallery and film show in Zahl’s Barn
• Kjerringøy Theatre Company presents tableaux dramatising the young Knut Pedersen’s meeting with merchant Zahl at Kjerringøy Trading Post.

En Route in the World of Hamsun
The project entitled “En Route in the World of Hamsun” is a joint culture project involving all of the municipalities in the Salten region. It is also the name of the second weekend of events in Kjerringøy on 1-2 August. The programme for these few days is not yet complete, but will in all probability be as follows:

Saturday 1 August

• Guided tour of film locations in the borough of Bodø. The trip goes from Bodø to Kjerringøy.
• Anneke von der Lippe and Nils Magnar Knudsen give an account of what it was like to film Hamsun’s work. There will also be various contributions and tableaux by local participants on location.
• Nordland Festival of Music in Kjerringøy Church: Premiere and chamber music concert with Birgitte Christensen and Ingerid Andsnes, Hamsun’s works

Sunday 2 August

• Salten Male Voice Choir in Kjerringøy Church Premiere of Nordland Cantata for Male Voice Choir by Fritjof Andersen with text by Knut Hamsun
• Start of the Nordland Regatta, Kjerringøy – Steigen – Hamarøy
• Read more about cultural events in Salten Culture Calendar at www.kulturisalten.no.

Further information about Kjerringøy and Bodø
Read more about the special summer offer Wonderful Weekend in Kjerringøy.
Read also our article about Kjerringøy - Adventures close to Bodø.

This spring a new web site was launched with information about Kjerringøy for both the local population and those who intend to visit the island. Read more about Hamsun and Kjerringøy at www.kjerringoy.info.

For further information, booking, transport, overnight accommodation and summer activities, please contact Visit Bodø on telephone +47 755 48000 or visit www.visitbodo.com.