Frank Jørstad is the head of Kvääniteatteri. Now he has been named Woman of the Year 2023. (Photo: Maureen Bjerkan Olsen)
It was referred to as “a historic performing arts happening and a stroke of genius.” Now the initiator behind “Norway listens” has been named Woman of the Year 2023.
Frank Halvorsen | Pål Vegard Eriksen
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– For God’s sake. It was incredibly nice. It was unexpected.”
This is how a surprised Frank Jørstad, theater manager of Kvääniteatteri, reacted when presenter Frank Halvorsen from Ruijan Radio called and surprised him with the winning message. Including the jury’s reasoning for why he had won the Woman of the Year award for 2023 (Listen to the phone conversation at the bottom of the case).
In the justification, the jury points out that Jørstad in 2023 has created awareness of the Kven people in society at large, and especially with regard to the initiative and effort behind “Norge listens.” The project which attracted half a million viewers on national television, and which Jørstad himself has referred to as “a big democratic project.”
The jury’s reasoning
Through his work, Frank Jørstad has created attention in society at large about the Kven people. As theater director and artistic director at Kvääniteatteri, he took the initiative to “Norge listens” on the occasion of the publication of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s report on 1 June 2023. Over 37 hours, the commission’s report was read from cover to cover and broadcast live on NRK from the National Theatre’s main stage. Over half a million saw the broadcast.
The event has (by Norsk Shakespare journal, journ. note) been referred to as “a historic performing arts happening and a stroke of genius”, a description the jury for Kven of the Year 2023 agrees with. Jørstad and Kvääniteatteri involved approximately 100 Kven, Forest Finland, Sami and Norwegian cultural profiles , actors, politicians and others in the reading of the report. This broad involvement with representatives from different people groups and parts of society was in itself conciliatory, and Jørstad’s network and good ability to get involved were decisive in achieving this.
Frank Jørstad put the kvens on the map in 2023, and the jury wants to give him the honorary title Kven of the Year 2023.
– Among the nineteen nominees, you were the one who drew the longest straw.
Read also: Here are all the nominees for Kven of the Year
– For God’s sake. I have to thank you for that. It was very nice, and not something I had time to think about, said the award winner, who, according to himself, was not aware that he had been nominated.
– I’ve been busy building a theatre, and haven’t really followed that much, quite simply, explains Jørstad.
And speaking of building a theatre. Ruijan Kaiku has written on several occasions about Jørstad’s efforts to make the authorities understand why Kvääniteatteri is money well spent. In the autumn of 2023, just one year after its foundation, it became clear that the theater had received a place in the state budget the following year in record time.
As Woman of the Year 2023, Frank Jørstad takes over the “baton” from Kjersti Feldt Anfinnsen, who was named Woman of the Year 2022. (Photo: Arne Hauge)
This is the third time in history that the Norwegian Women’s Association/Ruijan kvääniliitto and Ruijan Kaiku have awarded the honorary designation “Woman of the Year.”
When asked what Jørstad has to say about receiving the award, and what it means, he answers as follows:
– What this means is that the work that I have been a leader for as theater director of Kvääniteatteri, and the work that the theater has done, has been seen and appreciated.
These have become Kven of the Year
Woman of the year 2021: Anne Katriina Pedersen
Woman of the year 2022: Kjersti Feldt Anfinnsen
Woman of the Year 2023: Frank Jørstad
The jury’s reasoning highlights “Norway listens”, which Jørstad comments on:
– The project was important and demanding to achieve. We managed that, and then we certainly put the Kvens on the agenda, and not least the Sami and Forest Finnish, he says.
– There were many people involved, even though I led the work. And I am very proud of that reading, that we managed to make it happen and that it has raised awareness of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s report, says Jørstad.
Frank Jørstad. (Image: Pål Vegard Eriksen)
The recent award winner says that it is only in recent years that the Kven scene has really taken off, and believes that the women’s theater has contributed.
– The idea behind Kvääniteatteri is that it is a good way to illuminate, lift and develop the Kven culture, that it is a good way to do it, and it turns out and looks like it works, rounds off the Kven of the Year 2023.
Here, Jørstad learns that he has won the prize:
The poster for Årets kven 2023 is, as in previous years, designed by Wilfred Hildonen.