London, Tate Modern, 14 October - 6 April 2026: Máret Ánne Sara is a Northern Sámi artist and author known for her work exploring global ecological issues through the lens of her lived experience within the Sámi community.

Through her multidisciplinary practice, Sara highlights the impact of Nordic colonialism on Sámi ways of life, exploring the importance of preserving Sámi ancestral knowledge and values to protect the environment for future generations. Often using materials and methodologies derived from reindeer herding, Sara creates powerful sculptures and installations which uphold the reciprocal relationship between animals, lands, waters, and humans.

Photo: Máret Ánne Sara. Photo: Per Heimly/Dáiddadállu

London, Tate Modern Corner Bar, 16 October, Free event: Another highlight of the opening week at Tate Modern is a takeover by the NANU-Sámi Arts International, presenting an evening of music and performance from across Sápmi.

This will be a special one-off night where Sámi artists Ella Marie Hætta Isaksen, Marie Boine and Niilas bring innovative sounds and music making to The Corner. Together, they will offer audiences a rare and resonant glimpse into the evolving future of Sámi music. 

Left: Mari Boine. Credit: Dáiddadállu / CJ Utsi

London, British Museum, until 22 March 2026: Explore the macabre, melancholy and sometimes provocative themes that run through aspects of Nordic art.

Featuring over 150 works by 100 artists from the Nordic countries (Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden), Nordic noir opens with two important prints by Edvard Munch (1863–1944), arguably the most famous artist to emerge from the Nordic region and explores how the graphic arts continued to flourish and evolve after his death.

The exhibition is a culmination of a five-year project supported by AKO Foundation to acquire graphic works on paper from the Nordic region. It will address the evocative power and haunting beauty of contemporary Nordic art, and how the region's artists continue to develop the legacy of Munch's emotional expressiveness and creative inventiveness. 

The exhibition includes a number of artist talks, including the following:
31 October: Sverre Malling and Jeff Olsson in conversation with curator Jennifer Ramkalawon.

Suopan (Lasso), c.1928-1934, John Savio. Woodcut. © The Trustees of the British Museum.

London & Scotland, 14, 17, 18, 19 October: Nordic Unrest is a new solo piano album by the Norwegian pianist Oda Voltersvik. This deeply expressive recording explores the dramatic landscapes and folkloristic characters of the Nordic region. The composers Edvard Grieg and Atli Heimir Sveinsson are separated by a century but united in their ability to combine unrest with musical poetry.

Oda Voltersvik is a Norwegian pianist acclaimed for her expressive depth and refined technique. She has performed at prestigious venues such as Carnegie Hall (Weill Recital Hall), Wigmore Hall, Edvard Grieg Museum and the Norwegian Opera House, and is a frequent soloist and chamber musician across Europe and the United States. A graduate of the Royal College of Music in London and the Grieg Academy in Bergen, Voltersvik is known for her thoughtful programming and commitment to Nordic repertoire. Her recordings have received praise for their clarity, sensitivity, and interpretive insight.

London, 12, 14, 19 October: Sentimental Value will have its UK Premiere at the BFI London Film Festival this week. Winner of the Grand Prix at Cannes this year, the film reunites director Joachim Trier with Worst Person in the World lead actor Renate Reinsve and writing partner Eskil Vogt. Also starring in the film are Elle Fanning, Stellan Skarsgård, Inga Ibsdotter Lilleaas and Anders Danielsen Lie.

Sentimental Value will be shown in a special gala screening at the Royal Festival Hall on Sunday 12 October, followed by further screenings at the BFI Southbank on Tuesday 14 and at Curzon Mayfair on Sunday 19.

Tickets quickly sold out, but more may become available during the festival and on the day.

Still from Sentimental Value: Kasper Tuxen, courtesy of Mubi.

London, until 8 November: New life is breathed into Henrik Ibsen’s classic play, The Lady from the Sea, in an exciting new adaptation by Simon Stone at the Bridge Theatre. 

The Lady from the Sea is a thrilling dissection of desire, loss and rebirth for the contemporary age. Fearful she may have settled too easily for a comfortable life married to a well-off doctor, Ellida searches for a way to break the predictable routine her existence has become. When a lover from her past appears at their remote country house, she has to choose between the life she has now built and the one she left behind long ago.

Oscar-winning star Alicia Vikander (The Danish Girl, Ex Machina) makes her theatre debut, and is joined by Andrew Lincoln (Love Actually, The Walking Dead). The cast also includes Joe Alwyn, Gracie Oddie-James, Brendan Cowell, Isobel Akuwudike, and John Macmillan.

Vikander said, “Ibsen was one of the first playwrights I was introduced to, and his plays have always spoken to me on a deeply personal level, so it felt right that The Lady from the Sea should be my theatre debut.”

Photo by Johan Persson

London, until 6 December: Max Creasy's photographic exhibition Bad Language at the Architectural Association (AA) in London explores the relationship between the snapshot and architecture. The Norwegian-Australian photographer has collaborated with a group of architects and practices established in the past two decades, among them Norwegian architect studio Kastler Skjeseth. Creasy investigates the idiosyncratic, humane, and humorous sensibilities (and possibilities) of the architectural image.

Image: Kanzlei Strasse, 2021, Max Creasy

London, until 21 Oct: Born in 1937 in Svolvær, Norway, Britt Boutros-Ghali's early experiences in the Arctic landscape—marked by dramatic light shifts, harsh weather, and the shadow of World War II— were a formative influence on her visual language.

Ghali’s work is held in many public and private collections, including MOMA, Egypt and the Queen Noor Museum of Modern Art, Aman, Jourdan. Since her first exhibition in Paris in 1962, Ghali’s work has been presented at numerous exhibitions worldwide. The Varvara Roza Galleries exhibition focuses on her recent paintings. 

The exhibition presented by Varvara Roza Galleries will be on view at 8 Duke Street, St James's, London SW1Y 6BN.

Photo by Ayman Lofty.

▶ 15 October, London

Katarina Barruk and Niilas are performing during a session dedicated to TAKKUUK, their project with electronic music duo Bicep, at the Blue Earth Summit in Woolwich.

▶ 18 October, Cheltenham

Jens Stoltenberg will be in conversation with Robin Niblett at the Cheltenham Literature Festival about his forthcoming book, On My Watch: Leading NATO in a Time of War. The book will be published in the UK on 23 October by William Collins.

▶ 18 October - 22 November, London

Following her acclaimed adaptation of a Dolls house, Tanika Gupta takes on a new adaptation of Hedda after Henrik Ibsen at Orange Tree Theatre in Richmond, London. Taking place in London in 1948, Hedda Gabler (Pearl Chanda) has retired: early, elegantly, and with secrets. Once a Hollywood star, now the wife of a rising British film director, Hedda lives in Chelsea, hiding behind drawn curtains. But the past is beginning to stir. Hedda is a bold new version of Ibsen’s classic drama about blackmail, secrecy and power.

▶ 19 - 22 October, Glasgow, Manchester, London

Pom Poko are touring with Beach Bunny, with 3 dates in the UK.

▶ 22 October - 1 November, Edinburgh

Norwegian storytellers Mimesis Heidi Dahlsveen and Georgiana Keable Jerstad are taking part in this year's Scottish International Storytelling Festival, whose theme this year is 'Lights of the North'.

▶ 23 October

The latest release by Nobel Laureate Jon Fosse, Vaim will be released in the UK by Fitzcarraldo Editions, in an English translation by Damion Searls.

▶ 23 - 24 October, Edinburgh

Interweaving: Norway and Scotland Through Dress is a two-day event at Custom Lane, Edinburgh, addressing the similarities and differences between traditional Norwegian and Scottish dress and textiles.

▶ 31 October - 2 November, London

With extraordinary access to NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg in his final year in office, Facing War takes us to the heart of international diplomacy, witness to the power play between world leaders. The feature-length documentary is showing at Bertha Dochouse.

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