The majority of competitions in the Norwegian cultural sector are held in the field of music. The most internationally renowned is the Queen Sonja International Music Competition.

Cultural awards are widespread in Norway. Every county and many municipalities present yearly cultural awards to artists living in their respective areas. Therefore their relevance to non-Norwegians is extremely limited.

Composer Arne Nordheim is the most awarded living Norwegian artist today. He has received the Oslo Cultural Prize, the Royal Norwegian St Olav Prize, and the Amanda Award amongst others. Nordheim is also living in the Norwegian Honorary Artist Residence 'Grotten'. 'Grotten' is owned by the Norwegian state and extraordinary artists are invited to live here, next to the Royal Castle, for life.

Other public and private awards and scholarships are collected in a publication called Legathandboken. This is only available in Norwegian. Readers interested in competitions and awards in the field of architecture should consult the pages of the National Association of Norwegian Architects (www.arkitektur.no) which lists current open competitions. Unfortunately, this page is also only available in Norwegian.