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.

Special events at Tate Modern on Thursday 16 October:
- 19.00-20.30: Artist talk: hear from Máret Ánne Sara on her work as an artist and land defender. Tickets on sale now, book via Tate Modern's website.
- 20.00-23.00: Tate Modern presents a takeover by the NANU-Sámi Arts International, with an evening of music and performance from across Sápmi. Free event.

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

London, British Museum, 9 October - 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. It includes the charming prints of the Norwegian colour woodcut school of the 1940s; Danish prints tackling post-war angst and the threat of the Cold War; and political art from the 1970s in the form of vibrant screenprints by the Norwegian GRAS (Grass) group.

The contemporary Nordic artists represented here delve into the world of Norse myth, struggles with mental health and political issues such as feminism or the rights of the Indigenous Sámi people. The dominant theme for many, however, is nature and the vital urgency to preserve the fjords, mountains and forests unique to the region. One artist who has been extremely vocal on the subject is the Icelandic-Danish artist Olafur Eliasson (b. 1967) who, last year, made an extraordinary watercolour especially for the exhibition using glacial meltwater to highlight the effects of global warming.

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 Old Fisherman, 1897, Edvard Munch © The Trustees of the British Museum.

London, 12, 14, 19 October: Sentimental Value will have its UK Premiere at the BFI London Film Festival this October. 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 ahead of the screenings.

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

In their new album, mezzo- soprano Joanna Harries and pianist Sholto Kynoch weave together a treasure trove of Scandinavian song with nineteenth century travel writing.

Somewhere between a song recital and a historical audio travel guide, they journey to a soundtrack of songs by Agathe Backer Grøndahl, Edvard Grieg, Helena Munktell, Laura Netzel, Jean Sibelius and Wilhelm Stenhammar. The album is available now.

Harries & Kynoch will be performing music from 'Letters from Scandinavia' in Oxford at the Holywell Music Room on 10 October.

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, 30 September - 5 October: Born in Norway and now based in London, Alma Sophia Grønli Geller has made a name for herself in the UK jewellery industry with her sculptural designs, minimalist aesthetic, and delicate craftsmanship. She will be exhibiting at Goldsmiths’ Fair: the annual selling event and exhibition showcasing a curated selection of work by some of the best fine jewellers and contemporary silversmiths creating and making in the UK today. 

London, 28 September: Norwegian guitar pop phenomenon Tora Dahle Aagård - better known as TORA DAA - releases a new album on 26 September, including latest single 'Dear Lord'. DAA and her band are on tour and will be performing at the Hootananny in Brixton on the 28 September.

Earlier this year, Tora was commissioned to compose an original work for Trondheim Jazzfest, which was praised by festival director Ernst Wiggo Sandbakk as “the best commissioned work in the festival’s history.” Several of these compositions have made their way onto the upcoming album.

Photo by Thomas Pettersson.

Touring cathedrals in England until 3 October: Victoria Ulriksen gave her debut recital at age 15 in Oslo Cathedral, and abroad in 2023 on Scandinavia’s only Cavaillé-Coll organ in Copenhagen. Her tour in England last year consisted of concerts in Blackburn Cathedral and Truro Cathedral among others, and this year’s tours consist of over 15 cathedrals such as Norwich, Chester, Southwark, as well as Westminster Abbey.

Victoria Ulriksen will be giving organ recitals at a number of English cathedrals, beginning in Norwich on 18 September - find full details on her website.

Photo by Levent Ultanur.

London, 29 Sep - 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.

Happening now

Mathilde Friis is one of the co-curators of Virtual Beauty at Somerset House. The exhibition is a thought-provoking exhibition exploring the impact of digital culture and technologies on the traditional definitions of beauty today. Until 28 September.

Simon Stone brings a new version of Ibsen's The lady from the Sea to the Bridge Theatre in London. Starring Alicia Vikander and Andrew Lincoln. Until 8 November.

Max Creasy's photographic exhibition Bad Language at the Architectural Association (AA) in London explores the relationship between the snapshot and architecture. Until 6 December.

▶ 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.

▶ 18 October -22 November, London

Following her acclaimed adaptation of a Dolls house, Tanika Gupta takes on a new adaptation of Hedda by 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.

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