The Art Collection
Welcome to the art collection at the University of Bergen! The collection consists of roughly 500 works of art, mostly by Norwegian artists, but with some international contributions. Pictures and sculptures are found throughout the campus, indoors and outdoors, in mixing areas, corridors and meeting rooms. They are experienced daily by the UoB students, staff and visitors. This page presents a selection of the artworks, and the artists who created them.
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The University of Bergen has existed since 1946, with a long prehistory in the Bergen Museum. Over the years we have acquired works of art through gifts and by purchase, often supported by different funds. KORO (Public Art Norway) has played an important role in funding and initiating art projects of high artistic quality. Gifts from other institutions, companies and individuals make up a sizable portion of the collection. Professor Arild Haaland alone donated more than twenty artworks to the University of Bergen.
The art collection consists of paintings, graphics, freestanding sculptures, reliefs, decorations and representation portraits. Public art is exposed to heavy wear. This has played into the selection of the artworks, which are relatively robust. For the same reason, the collection contains almost no electronics or installations.
New artworks are bought on a regular basis, and the collection reflects the development in taste and tendencies over the years. The works relate both to their architectural surroundings, and to the study and research activities going on here. Many of the commisioned pieces consciously reflect this fact.
The University is a forum for the production and distribution of knowledge. A number of the pieces in the art collection are well worth a closer study. On these sites, many of them are presented. For research purposes there is also a more detailed database of all of the artworks. Access to the database can be given on request to Siri Meyer, head of aesthetic committee, or Alf Edgar Andresen, Engineer.
