Kistefos Industry, Park & Art

After an hour and half drive from Oslo along a picturesque road you are welcome to one of the most interesting directions of contemporary art in Europe. Kistefos is an impressive sculpture park with 51 sculptures in scenic surroundings. Each of you will find something to your liking, enjoy the beautiful nature and interesting art exhibits. 

Upon arrival you will learn about the history of Kistefos that started in the end of 19th century with the foundation of A/S Kistefos Træsliberi by Consul Anders Sveaas (1840-1917) who was a typical entrepreneur and a visionary with a strong business sense. He acquired the rights to the waterfall, and the land to build the factory buildings on in 1889. Kistefos conveys industrial history that is unique in Norwegian and Scandinavian contexts, and stands today as a unique monument of the first period of an industrialized, modern Norway.

You will be begin with a visit to the Old paper-mill industry building to see the interesting contemporary art inside one of the floors where you will see the old paper-mill machines mixed in with contemporary art pieces made from the paper-mill times.

You will also visit the scuplture park to see a selection of the most interesting and notable scuptures of the park.

The park that has 51 sculptures by prominent contemporary artists such as Yayoi Kusama, Claes Oldenburg, Olafur Eliasson, Anish Kapoor, Fernando Botero, Jeppe Hein, Tony Cragg, and Elmgreen & Dragset. The works range from the monumental to the unobtrusive, the profound to the playful. The sculpture collection is permanent and many of the sculptures are site-specific - meaning that the artist has created the artwork especially for Kistefos, directly inspired by the history, cultural heritage or nature of the place.

After this portion of your visit, you will have lunch in a private glassed-in dining “cube” that overlooks the river and Twist gallery. Enjoy local products during an artful lunch.

After lunch, you will have a guided tour of Twist.

Visit the Twist is a gallery, a bridge, and a sculpture, all in one. The 1000 square meter building twists into a sculptural form and spans 60 meters across the Randselva river. The building was designed by the Danish star architects BIG - Bjarke Ingels Group and is cited as a "must-see" cultural destination by the New York Times, Bloomberg, and The Telegraph, amongst others.

The Twist has three sections of the showrooms; Closed Gallery, Twist Gallery, and Panorama Gallery. The Twist Gallery is, as its name suggests, the interior of the twist itself. In this section, ceilings become walls and walls turn into ceilings when the building turns 90 degrees. From the north end of the building, visitors enter the Panorama Gallery. Its large windows offer a view of the river and the surrounding landscape.

After your guided tour of The Twist exhibit, enjoy free time to explore on your own. Choose to explore one of the contemporary art galleries (there are two more on sight), browse the Kistefos shop with high-quality, artful items and local products.