Nominations for the Fritt Ord Prize 2024

January 5 2024

The Fritt Ord Foundation invites nominations for potential candidates for the Fritt Ord Prize 2024.

Each year, Fritt Ord awards the Fritt Ord Prize to individuals or institutions that have shown civil courage and worked to defend and strengthen freedom of expression and the conditions for it in Norway, especially by encouraging dynamic debate.

Nominations should be a maximum of 4000 characters long and include a brief description of the nominee’s efforts and a grounded justification for why the person or organisation in question deserves the prize. Please do not send attachments.

Nominations for the prize should be submitted to post@frittord.no. The email should be marked: “Fritt Ord Prize 2024" or "The Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize 2024. The deadline for nominations is 12 noon on 22 January.

The Fritt Ord Foundation’s Board will review the nominations parallel to considering the Board’s own nominations. The nominations will not be made public.

The prize is the Fritt Ord Foundation’s highest distinction. It consists of the Freedom of Expression Foundation statuette crafted by Nils Aas, and a prize of NOK 500 000.

See the list of earlier prize laureates here.

News

Art and Institutions: “I Demand a Museum to Feel its Own Floors Tremble When Other Museums are Destroyed in War”

February 12 2025

Saturday 22 February 2025 at Kunstnernes Hus, Oslo, from 14.30 to 16.30 h.

Conversation with Adam Budak (Poland/Germany), Stefanie Carp (Germany), Matej Drlička (Slovakia), Andrea Geyer (USA) og Sarah Lookofsky (USA/Norway). Ingerid Salvesen is moderator.

Across the world, cultural institutions are under increasing pressure. Censorship, self-censorship, drastic funding cuts, and political and sponsorship interference are on the rise. Former and present institutional directors – with personal experiences of political pressure, cancellation and censorship from different geographic contexts – will discuss the limitations and capacities of art institutions in the present.

Freedom of Expression Foundation Tribute to Sara Gaulin

February 5 2025

Sarah Gaulin (30) is being awarded the Freedom of Expression Foundation Tribute for her courageous and principled defence of freedom of expression in the face of extremism, gang crime and negative social control.
As a prominent voice, Gaulin has drawn attention to some of the most demanding and controversial social challenges of our time.

Cultural criticism for a new era

January 25 2025

Jacob Geller is a prominent video essayist on YouTube who has broad appeal. Based on computer games, he gets million of viewers to embrace in-depth analyses in which he romps through topics such as fear and art, architecture, politics and social issues.

Meet him in Oslo on 12 February in a panel discussion with Norwegian journalists, as they discuss how cultural journalism can be rejuvenated without being light-weight or trivial.

There will also be a workshop featuring Jacob Geller in Oslo on 14 February.

The film ‘Hopeless Mother’ addresses a taboo – New awards in December 2024

January 9 2025

The film ‘Hopeless Mother’ addresses a taboo – “I just wanted to run away from my family”. New awards in December 2024
Director Bente Johanne Moe and Fotspor Film received funding for the documentary film ‘Hopeless mother’ about the shameful taboo topic of postpartum depression.
“The film will contribute to greater openness,” comments Moe.
Here is the list of new awards made by Fritt Ord in December 2024 in response to applications for NOK 100 000 or less.