Munch's Freia frieze exhibition exposes chocolate's bitter colonial history

The Munch Museum in Oslo has introduced a new exhibit called 'Edvard Munch and the Chocolate Factory', featuring the entire Freia frieze for the first time in Norway. These 12 paintings, made in 1922 for the women's break room at the Freia chocolate factory, will be on view until October 2026 due to renovations. Curator Ana María Bresciani explores issues like workers' rights, gender equality, and the complex history of cocoa sourcing from places like South America, the Caribbean, and Ghana, then a British colony. Interestingly, chocolate mogul Johan Throne Holst paid Munch 80,000 Norwegian kroner (around £192,000 today), while female workers earned very little. The frieze, completed in 1923, was linked to important labor achievements in Norway, but many 'chocolate girls' couldn’t access the leisure activities shown. Munch aimed to inform workers but refused to add doors and chimneys unless a chauffeur was available. This frieze is one of only two public works by Munch; the other is at the University of Oslo. The exhibit will wrap up on October 11, 2026.