Local residents said the proposed project was “a rape of nature”.
The government of Norway decided to scrap plans to implement the project by Swedish artist Jonas Dahlberg dedicated to 77 victims of the terror attack on Jule 22, 2011. The memorial sparked hot public debate after it was proposed in 2014.
Dahlberg’s project Memory Wound was selected by the country’s government in an international competition. The Swedish artist proposes cutting a section of the Sørbråten peninsula in front of Utøya Island where the massacre took place. Dahlberg wants to remove a slice 40 metres long and 3.5 metres wide from the peninsula. The earth from Sørbråten was to be used for a memorial in Olso to mark the spot where eight people were killed in an explosion.
Many locals found the memorial unacceptable and even threatened to go to court to stop the project. Opponents of Dahlberg’s work call it “a rape of nature”. Many say they don’t like to see such a striking visual reminder of the tragedy.
Following the protests, the government took a decision to abandon Dahlberg’s project. Instead, a memorial will be installed on the dock where ferries to Utøya depart. It is supposed to be a low-key memorial to satisfy the public and honour the victims of the attacks.
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