Wrap is a centre for artistic production and communication, which provides a wide range of facilities to professional artists, on a project-to-project basis. Wrap is artist-run, but none of our facilities are exclusively reserved for any particular artist. Our tools and spaces are maintained and organised by knowledgeable professionals and our prices are subsidised in order to reflect the means of most artists, and to maintain an inclusive profile.

We also initiate and curate various artistic projects that we believe benefit the artistic communities surrounding the centre.

Wrap is supported by:

Nurturing community

We would like to show our appreciation for the extra staff that have stepped in at short notice, to keep Wrap going during a period where Leo and Veronica have to be in Denmark to support Leo’s dad in his recovery from massive head and spinal injuries due to a fall.

Malin Vangsnes, Øystein Nesheim, and Priscilla Navas and Suzanne Starr Lassen have proven to be an invaluable team in keeping everything ticking over smoothly, from technical changeovers to managing keys and introducing new artists to Wrap!

2025 began with lots of exciting performing arts projects at Wrap.

Våpenbror (Brother-in-arms) is a brand new pop/rock musical written by Steinar Hjelmbrekke and Gro Espedal with an impressive cast and live band on stage.

Open Window Theatre is known for spectacular puppet theatre shows both for adults and for children. They are currently developing their latest show in Wrap’s Big Project Room, as well as the entire workshop suite (Wood & Metal Workshop, Paint and Polymers Workshop and Electronics room.

Transiteatret Bergen is known for it’s highly unique and award winning, intricate mixed-media style of theatre shows. These shows are often developed as a sequence of individual events that process the same core themes and ideas in different ways and contexts. Transiteatret are currently developing the newest phase in their ongoing series in Studio B at Wrap. Like many theatre companies Transiteatret often uses several of Wrap’s facilities simultaneously, making it possible to develop scenography, sound design, and video, alongside the rest of the performance.    

One of the things that makes Wrap so unique is that we enable independent artists and groups to realise interdisciplinary projects on a large and ambitious scale, with most relevant resources and facilities in-house. Although the Norwegian system places importance on artistic autonomy by funding artists directly, rather than only via programmers, there is nowhere else in Norway that provides such a comprehensive, flexible and accessible suite of production facilities that can be rented on a project-to-project basis (as needed).

Our combination of professional tools, workshops and studio’s, combined with our understanding of interdisciplinary artistic processes, needs and expectations, constantly enables new ideas and expressions to emerge within the performing and visual arts.

The highly acclaimed, award-winning theatre group, Transiteatret Bergen, has relied on Wrap as an essential infrastructural foundation for it’s work for over 10 years. Other groups working with experimental expressions within the performing arts, such as URSUS productions, Open Window Theatre and Happy Gorilla (now disbanded) have also relied on and been enabled by Wrap throughout their development.

Part of our mission has always been to develop and nurture an inspiring professional artistic community. An important factor is not to discriminate between genres, and to be accessible and supportive to artists at all stages in their professional careers. To do this, it’s important that our pricing system reflects the realities of a broad cross-section of the Norwegian arts scene.

Many artists both locally, regionally and nationally, agree that Wrap is a supportive and inspiring production environment where it’s easy to meet other artists, technicians and people from other corners of the art world.

It’s not very glamorous to focus so intensely on production, and it doesn’t generate a hige amount of income. Wrap was founded in a place and time when there was less emphasis on the immediate profitability of the arts, and we are focused on creating the best possible foundation from which new artists and expressions can emerge.

Times have changed somewhat, but lots of people still love art, and we are still all about helping it to happen in as many new, exciting and inspiring ways as possible!

Wrap condems apartheid and racism in any form, and as a member of the BDS movement’s Apartheid Free Zones campaign, we have divested from companies that contribute to or profit from the Israeli occupation and genocide in Gaza, and are withholding from cooperation with persons and organisations funded by the Israeli state. This is an ethical decision that reflects our respect for the idea of a rules based order and for established international definitions of human rights.

Image from rehearsals of Våpenbror the musical by Steinar Hjelmbrekke and Gro Espedal at Wrap.