Bridgizz

The cultural diversity in Norway is large, but our own social networks are not always as varied. In an era where Islam often is associated with terror and extremism, while the number of Muslims in Norway is increasing, it is more important than ever that people meet in dialogue and community.

Our image of Islam must be normalized, but in order to do so we need to harness our knowledge in other places than just through the media. The Muslim Lent Ramadan is about purification, peace, community and unity. We are in company with London and Amsterdam when we now use Ramadan as a framework for a cultural festival.

In the course of the Ramadan month we will, together a number of participants strive to create settings where ethnic Norwegians can meet Muslims for dialogue, knowledge and social gatherings. In doing this, we are grabbing hold of something which many ethnic Norwegians experience as problematic, through encountering cultural diversity and trying to make it more widespread and common through the creation of a cultural festival with roots in Islam that many immigrants experience as their own. Our goal is to raise the level of dialogue from extremism to a more balanced and reflective level in order to promote community, respect and knowledge of each other above religious and cultural partitions.

The events will mainly take place in International House, but 3-5th October we set up the Ramadan tent on Domkirkeplassen where we create a new and exotic atmosphere in the middle of Stavanger.

Petter Gilsvik
-Executive director of
the International House Foundation

for more information check: www.ramadanfestival.no

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