Munch + 9 grader nord: The Sick Child

Four bands. Four paintings. Four different outcomes. See how the energetic folk music group 9 grader nord transformed The Sick Child by Edvard Munch into a song.

A spontaneous singalong in Tamil? By an audience who don’t know the language at all? This is part of the magic that happens when the Bergen-based band 9 grader nord is on tour. They don’t shy away from the unusual, with typical instruments like bamboo flute and cajón drum, and they also mix musical genres as diverse as flamenco, baila, and jazz. On stage, the band members together are known to be a pure energy boost.

“The song is the last lullaby before the child leaves the world.” – 9 grader nord

9 grader nord.
Photo: 9 grader nord

The name 9 grader nord (Norwegian for 9 degrees north) is a reference to the location of the city Jaffna in Sri Lanka where the two female band members, sisters Mira and Dipha Thiruchelvam, are from. Together with Jakob Sønnesyn and Jakob Sisselson Hamre, they make folk music that, according to music critics, travels across borders.

9 grader nord’s “The Sick Child” on Spotify

The Sick Child (1925)

The Sick Child records a moment before Munch’s older sister Johanne Sophie (1862–1877) died of tuberculosis at the age of 15. Munch returned to this deeply traumatic event again and again in his art over a period of more than 40 years.

“The sick child”, Edvard Munch (1925)

Photo: The Munch Museum

Edvard Munch

The Norwegian painter and printmaker Edvard Munch (1863–1944) was one of Modernism’s most significant artists.

His intensely evocative treatment of psychological themes built upon some of the main principles of late 19th-century Symbolism and greatly influenced German Expressionism in the early 20th century.

His best-known work The Scream, painted in 1893, is one of the world’s most iconic paintings.

Meet the other artists in the project

Learn more about Edvard Munch

Read about the artist and his art, and find out where to see it.

A self-portrait of Edvard Munch who's standing whilst holding a cigarette

"Self-Portrait with Cigarette", Edvard Munch (1895).
Photo: Nasjonalmuseet / Børre Høstland

The world-famous painter Edvard Munch

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Learn more about Edvard Munch

The Norwegian painter and printmaker Edvard Munch (1863–1944) was one of Modernism’s most significant artists. His intensely evocative treatment of psychological themes built upon some of the main principles of late 19th-century Symbolism and greatly influenced German Expressionism in the early 20th century. The Scream from 1893 is one of the world’s most iconic paintings.