[1] The first Southern Norway Exhibition opened on January 4, 1969.
[1][2] The exhibition was set up at the initiative of the painters Bjørn Krogstad and Øyvind Brune in 1968.
After making thorough preparations, they contacted the Kristiansand Art Association (Norwegian: Christianssands Kunstforening) and by May 1968 had arranged the rules[3] for how the exhibition should be organized and carried out the following year.
Among other accomplishments, Krogstad and Brune established an economic foundation for the exhibition by having it included in the budget of the Norway Arts Council.
These play a strong role in Norway's artistic milieu alongside the annual nationwide Autumn Exhibition in Oslo.