Oklahoma City National Memorial & Museum, Oklahoma, USA

Yesterday I wrote about the proposed locations of the Norwegian national 22 July memorials. The proposals are - as expected - already debated, as many feel that the park next to the Oslo Cathedral would be a more fitting place for a national memorial in the capital. The cathedral was the natural place to visit for thousands of mourners in the days and weeks that followed the terror attacks. Who will forget the vast flower garden outside the cathedral? The steering committee wrote in its report that Domkirkeplassen (the Cathedral Square) still is a living, informal memorial place and didn't want to replace it with a permanent memorial. The national memorial place is supposed to unite everyone, independent of political or religious affilation. The steering committee felt that the square/park outside the cathedral would be too exluding.

Other people find that the Government Quarter, where the first terror attack took place, would be the best place for a national memorial. Others again think that Nisseberget in the Palace Park would be a good idea, while some people feel the location is rather "irrelevant" to the tragedy that took place in Oslo.

The discussion of the location and what the memorials should look like will of course continue. I am not going to compare the 22 July attacks with other terror attacks, as the story behind the different attacks are so different. Still, many thought about the Oklahoma City bombing in the days after the 22 July bomb attack, and it has also been mentioned during the trial.

The bomb attack on the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City on 19 April 1995 killed 168 and injured more than 680 people besides destroying or damaging more than 300 buildings. I am sure there were many debates about the memorial in Oklahoma as well, something that I will not go into. The memorial was formally dedicated on 19 April 2000, while the museum opened the year after. I visited the Oklahoma City National Memorial & Museum in July 2005, and was very moved by the way the memorial was designed and by its simple beauty, if you can use that word about a place where such a horrible crime took place. The Reflecting Pool, the Feld of Empty Chairs symbolizing the 168 people who were killed, the Survivor's Wall and Tree and the Memorial Fence were all well-chosen parts of the memorial where the victims, survivors and rescue workers are honored.

The Norwegian national 22 July memorials will of course be different in style and size, but I wouldn't be surprised if the artists and/or architects who will work on the memorials in Norway will look to elements of memorials such like the one in Oklahoma City for ideas.

Updated on Friday 27 April 2012 at 08.30 (minor language correction).

National 22 July memorials report submitted

The Norwegian Government decided in December 2011 to establish two memorials after 22 July, one in Oslo and one in connection with Utøya (Hole municipality), following the 22 July attacks. According to the Ministry of Culture's press release of 22 December 2011, the memorials are intended to both honour the memory of the deceased and represent a collective tribute to the volunteers, survivors and rescue personnel. 77 people died in the attacks.

The steering committee for the national 22 July memorials, chaired by former Minister of Culture Åse Kleveland, submitted today to the Government its report Steder for å minnes og påminnes - innstilling vedrørende minnesteder etter 22. juli ("Places for recollection and reminding - a report concerning memorial places after 22 July"). The report (in  pdf) can be read here.

The committee has visited and discussed several places in Hole and Oslo to place the memorials. Regarding Hole municipality, where Utøya island is situated, the steering committee believes that the memorial place should be accessible to everyone and therefore located on the mainland. Therefore Sundvollstranda, Vik, Sundøya, Gamleskolen, Elstangen, Sørbråten, Lauvodden (Veikroa) and Lien were all visited, and the committee concluded that Sørbråten (see pp. 12-14) was the best place, with Lauvodden as an alternative. Both places are connected to Riksvei ("National road") 155 and are close to Tyrifjorden lake with a view to Utøya and with limited passing traffic.

I gather that Arbeidernes Ungdomsfylking (AUF, Workers' Youth League) will also set up their own memorial on the island itself.

In Oslo the committee has visited Domkirkeplassen (the Oslo Cathedral Square), Stortorget (the Main Square next to the Oslo Cathedral), Eidsvolls plass vest, Tullinløkka, Youngstorvet, Grev Wedels plass, Kontraskjæret/Skansen, Nisseberget (in the Palace Park) and Regjeringskvartalet (the Government Quarter). The conclusion was that Nisseberget in the Palace Park (pp. 21-23) was the best place, with the Government Quarter as an alternative. The Royal Palace has responded positively to the proposal. Nisseberget is in the report described as "a sunny height in the Palace Park, between Wergelandsveien and Slottsbakken", with a great view to the city, and is "both secluded and open at the same time".

Personally I would have thought that the Government Quarter, which was severely damaged by the car bomb on 22 July 2011, would be the most fitting place to raise the memorial, but the committee regards the uncertainty about when the reconstruction work is finished as a weakness. But even if also the Government decides on Nisseberget for the national 22 July memorial in Oslo, it will not exclude a memorial also in the Government Quarter, although in a smaller scale.

It is now up to the Norwegian Government to decide where to place the national memorials. The committee has suggested that an invitation will be given to an open, international "prequalification" for a commission which includes the two national memorial places. In the so-called open prequalification artists, architects and co-operating groups will present their reasoned applications for participation. The prequalification will be followed by a closed competition where up to 20 artists etc. take part.

The plan is that the national memorials will be unveiled on 22 July 2015, four years after the attacks took place.