KHiO 30 years: Rector's Speech and Pictures from the Celebration in Oslo City Hall

Dear everyone – deputy mayor, guests and the whole KHiO community.

Thank you so much for letting us celebrate our anniversary here, in one of the most beautiful and important rooms in all of Norway.
In 1996, as part of a major reform in higher education, the Oslo National Academy of the Arts [KHiO] was founded as a single, unified institution. The minister of education at the time, Gudmund Hernes, described the reform process as follows:

"Of course, this did cause a bit of commotion – perhaps most intensely in regard to the founding of the Oslo National Academy of the Arts."

Well, were you really all that surprised, Hernes? Because truth be told, we are a place where critically essential difficulties, conflicts and contradictions abound – in other words, the very things you need to prevent art, people and society from becoming stiff and sluggish.
And now, in 2026, we are marking that thirty years have passed since we – or rather, five different institutions – were “forced” to live together. Even though I haven’t been part of the entire journey myself, I feel confident in saying that things have gradually worked themselves out. I see interesting encounters and collaborations that might not have otherwise come to fruition. I see students and staff connecting with one another across the various departments.

KHiO’s wide range of programmes, within the performing arts, the visual arts and design, creates a solid basis for collaboration both inside and across different fields.

The six departments at KHiO have much in common, but they are also defined by distinctive artistic traditions and dissimilar modes of learning. Our mission remains the same – to navigate effectively within the tension between each field’s distinctive nature and the possibilities offered by the institution of KHiO as a whole.

The Oslo National Academy of the Arts is firmly rooted, even when facing potential budget cuts and the uncertainties of a world in turmoil. Our staff engage in influential artistic practices and help advance their respective fields, while our students – as we know from surveys – are highly motivated and enjoy successful careers after graduating.

For instance, this year’s debutant prize at the annual Autumn Exhibition was awarded to David Tobias Bonde Jensen, a recent graduate from the Academy of Fine Art. He recently said the following about KHiO:
Now that I’m on the other side as a graduate and a practising artist, what I miss most about KHiO are the conversations and the dialogue. It’s unique having the chance to think and talk about art as a form of searching, as digressions and detours.
That was the viewpoint of a recent graduate – but let’s move on to today’s students, perhaps the most unsparing, yet also the most valuable yardstick for where we stand today.

Because now you will hear from someone else named Tobias. I don’t think he misses KHiO – simply because he’s still here. He is not only a student at KHiO but also the head of the student council.

– Tobias, today we are celebrating KHiO’s thirtieth anniversary. In thirty years, you will be fifty-six. I will be over ninety. When you look back as a fifty-six-year-old, what do you think KHiO will have meant to you?

– Well, I think I’ll be able to look back and say that KHiO provided me with the start to a truly monumental career in art! [said with humorous exaggeration]. But more seriously, that KHiO gave me hope that it’s possible to make a living as an artist. That the school introduced me to people who were just as hungry as I was to create something. I think I’ll miss sitting on the stone steps in the sunshine with my fellow students. I’ll miss the school’s large workshops. And I think I might even miss my teachers, who’ll be as old as the hills by then!

– And how do you hope the world will look like?

– I hope that we as humans are creative, and that we’ve stopped this AI nonsense we’re messing around with today. I hope that all of my friends have achieved the seemingly impossible dream of owning a home while pursuing their dreams as artists. I hope that KHiO is stronger than ever, and that we own our own building. And, not least, I hope there is peace on earth, so that the ENTIRE military budget can be redirected into art and culture!

– Hear, hear! This is a hopeful future that points out the way forward. Thank you so much, Tobias. With those words, we can confidently continue the celebration. Congratulations, KHiO!