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The Fritt Ord Foundation

The Fritt Ord Foundation is a private non-profit foundation that seeks to promote freedom of expression, public debate, art and culture.

Refuse to be silenced. Free Media Awards handed out in Oslo

September 17 2024

We refuse to be silenced.
That was the common message when six media outlets, journalists, and editors from Georgia, Azerbaijan, Ukraine, Russia, and Belarus received the Free Media Awards 2024 on September 17 at the Nobel Institute in Oslo.
– Threatening, attacking, kidnapping, and murdering journalists has become a war tactic, said documentary filmmaker Tonje Hessen Schei in her speech to the prize winners.

Fritt Ord's grants for master’s degrees

September 9 2024

Is your master’s project about freedom of expression, social debate or journalism? If so, you can apply for a student grant from the Fritt Ord Foundation.

The History of History – graphic novels can shed light on history in new ways

September 9 2024

Graphic novels that address historical topics was this year’s focus among the 144 public libraries that responded to the Fritt Ord Foundation’s call for applications from libraries for 2024, "The History of History».
According to graphic art creators as well as librarians, graphic novels can recount history in new ways to new groups of readers. Forty-four libraries have been granted MNOK 2.6 to organise meetings on nonfictional prose, fiction and graphic novels. This is the largest amount since the calls for applications from libraries began in 2008.

How to talk about racism?

August 28 2024

Debate seminar at the Fritt Ord Foundation premises, Uranienborgveien 2, from 6-7.30 p.m. on Monday, 9 September

Free Media Awards for 2024 presented

August 23 2024

The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Zeit Stiftung Bucerius hereby announce that the Free Media Awards for 2024 will be presented to journalists and media from Georgia, Ukraine, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Russia and, for the first time, Hungary.

Frie stemmer – Freedom of expression made Panama Papers possible

August 18 2024

Gerard Ryle, an Irish-Australian investigative journalist and director of the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists, has led projects that resulted in the resignation of four prime ministers. He led the world’s largest journalistic collaborations: Offshore Leaks, Panama Papers, Paradise Papers, Implant Files, FinCEN Files, and Pandora Papers. “They are all based on the principles of freedom of expression,” he says.

Tuva won the history competition by telling about her Great Aunt Ragnhild

June 26 2024

Tuva Rognås Strømmen from Valdres Upper Secondary School won the history competition ‘My family in History’ with the story entitled “An ordinary life, out of the ordinary” about the life choices that her Great Aunt Ragnhild made in the late 1800s. Liv Conradi Andersen from Kråkerøy Lower Secondary School won an award for “First she lost her home, then they wanted to take away her language” about how her Sámi grandmother Marit Elvira experienced the Norwegianisation policy prevalent in Finnmark County in the 1950s.
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Grants

The Fritt Ord Foundation is a private non-profit foundation that aspires to promote freedom of expression, public debate, art and culture. The projects that receive funding should benefit the Norwegian public and be accessible to all. In special cases, the Fritt Ord Foundation can help promote freedom of expression in other countries.

See the grants list

Selected grants

Lørenskog Municipal Library Cultural Service
The History of History (Fortalt fortid): History through graphic art
Bibliotekutlysning

Graphic novels that address historical topics was the trend this year among the 144 public libraries that responded to the Fritt Ord Foundation’s call for applications from libraries for 2024, “The History of History”.
“The visual aspect of the graphic novels lends itself well to attract all kinds of lenders”, comments librarian Toril Å. Iversen.
Frederick Kjensmo
"MY FATHER": a humorous performance on dementia and regular dads
Teater

A play that offers transparency on the topic of dementia. Comedian and writer Freddy Kjensmo has staged a performance about a topic not usually considered comical – the severe dementia affecting his father. He plays the leading character in a piece scheduled to be performed eight times in Eastern Norway in September.
Trønderdebatt
Norwegian Journalism: Series of articles "Those who control the centre", fourth season
Journalistikk

Trønderdebatt is launching its fourth and final season of the debate project “Sentrumskontrollørene”, which reviews cities, towns and shopping centers in Trøndelag County as if they were cultural issues.
journal DER Media
Norwegian journalism: DER journal - Bilingual Norwegian-Arabic journal
Tidsskrift

The Norwegian-Arabic social studies journal DER, based in Bergen, has been granted NOK 100 000 in support for three publications in April, August and December 2024, accompanied by a seven-minute podcast with each issue.
Espen Klouman Høiner
Made in China
Teater

The theatre production “Made in China” by playwright, director and actor Espen Klouman Høiner will challenge the “Eurocentric view of China and the great and all-powerful ‘I’”. At the same time, it is an artistic reflection on a Chinese state system that increasingly uses its high-tech innovation to monitor and suppress its citizens – and that exports these methods.
Nora Svalheim
"I am a Hedde"
Teater

Actress and stunt performer Nora Svalheim, composer and musician Åsmund Solberg and director Sullivan Lloyd Nordrum have received NOK 50 000 to stage the play “I am a Hedde”, which the three have developed together, focussing on the topics of exclusion and bullying.
Theatre Manu
Hands down
Teater

The sign language theatre company Theatre Manu has been granted NOK 75 000 in funding for script development of a play about growing up deaf in the 1970s and not being allowed to use your hands to communicate. The working title is "Hands down ". The play is based on the story of actor Ronny Patrick Jacobsen (pictured). Marius Leknes Snekkevåg has written the script.
Toni Usman
Death Penalty
Teater

Director and playwright Toni Usman has been granted NOK 100 000 in funding for the theatre production “Death Penalty”, which will be staged next autumn. “Death Penalty” will be about Pakistan’s former Prime Minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto (1928-1979), who was deposed in a military coup and then executed on 4 April 1979.
Maria Kulikovska
My Body is a Battlefield
Utstilling

In the summer of 2023, Ukrainian installation artist Maria Kulikovska from Crimea set up her installations from the exhibition “My Body is a Battlefield” in the currently empty premises of the yet-to-open Jøssingfjord Science Museum in Sokndal in Rogaland County.
The Norwegian Helsinki Committee
Commemoration of the war in Ukraine - exhibition and events
Utstilling

‘Ukraine’s struggle for freedom’ at the Albin Upp Gallery in Oslo marks one year since a full-scale invasion was mounted on 24 February 2022.
Human Rights House Foundation
Guest performance featuring a Ukrainian theatre troupe, ‘War through the eyes of Ukrainian artists’
Teater

The Ukrainian play ‘Imperium delendum est’ by Lesia Ukrainka Theater of Lviv will be performed in Oslo.
International Creativity Workshop AS
International Creativity Workshop AS Polish Film Week’s 10th anniversary
Festival

Polish Film Week is scheduled to take place in Moss on 26-27 August, Fredrikstad on 8-15 October, and Oslo on 20 October. This year marks the 10th anniversary of the festival, and this year Ukraine and Mexico are also included in the programme. “There will also be a Polish-Norwegian conference on the importance of culture in integration," states festival director Magdalena Tutka.

Prizes

    The Fritt Ord Prize

    The Fritt Ord Prize is the institution’s highest distinction. The Prize is an acknowledgement accorded to individuals or institutions engaged in activities deemed especially worthwhile in the light of the institution’s objects clause.

    See all prize recipients

    The Fritt Ord Tribute

    The Fritt Ord Tribute acknowledges remarkable efforts to promote free speech, often in connection with current affairs. Tributes are bestowed when someone deserves them, without any constraints on their number.

    See all prize recipients

    Free Media Awards

    The ‘Free Media Awards’ is the name of the press prizes awarded by the two foundations The Fritt Ord Foundation and ZEIT STIFTUNG BUCERIUS. The prizes seek to highlight and strengthen the independent role of journalists,

    See all prize recipients

    Projects

      Documentary Photography

      Over the years, Fritt Ord has worked to strengthen the position of documentary photography through special calls for applications for funding, providing ongoing support for photo books and exhibitions, and establishing projects like The Norwegian Journal of Photography.

      Libraries, Encyclopaedia, and Houses of Literature

      Fritt Ord has launched various initiatives related to the communication of knowledge and the promotion of literature, including an annual subsidy scheme earmarked for Norwegian public libraries. In 2005, the Foundation took the initiative to establish Norway’s first house of literature and, in 2010, to ensure the further operation of Store norske leksikon.

      Media and Journalism

      Since its inception, Fritt Ord has had media and journalism as one of its core target areas. In today’s demanding media situation, the Foundation has set up separate grant and subsidy schemes for journalists and critics.

      Young People and Students

      Fritt Ord offers grants for students working on master’s theses or on documentary films in fields such as human rights, journalism, freedom of expression and democracy building. It also hosts the Fritt Ord Foundation Competition for Upper Secondary Schools and the Norwegian Historical Society’s competition for pupils.

      International Projects

      Fritt Ord takes part in a number of joint projects outside the borders of Norway, primarily related to freedom of the press, democracy building and the strengthening of organisations of civil society.

      Research

      Fritt Ord has taken the initiative for several research projects on freedom of expression that have been conducted by various Norwegian research communities. Among other things, the studies have examined social norms and political tolerance in respect of statements, online harassment and polarisation, artistic freedom of expression and freedom of expression in the workplace.

      Publications

      Books and reports published by the Fritt Ord Foundation, alone or with partners.