OSLO.- Norway inaugurated its new National 22 July Memorial in central Oslo on Sunday, July 19, creating a permanent place of remembrance for the 77 people killed in the 2011 terrorist attacks and for the survivors, families and communities whose lives were permanently changed.

The memorial, titled Upholding, was created by Norwegian artist and writer Matias Faldbakken and now stands at Johan Nygaardsvolds plass in the newly reconstructed Government Quarter. The ceremony took place just days before the 15th anniversary of the attacks on July 22.

Crown Prince Haakon attended the inauguration, which brought together government representatives, survivors, bereaved families, members of the Workers’ Youth League, known as AUF, and members of the public.

Minister of Digitalisation and Public Governance Karianne Tung opened the event. The program also included music by ULD, remarks from the National Support Group after 22 July and AUF, and a conversation between Faldbakken and survivors of the attacks. Minister of Education Kari Nessa Nordtun delivered the closing remarks.

An open reception later took place at Kunstnernes Hus, where visitors were invited to attend a conversation between Faldbakken and curator Trude Schjelderup Iversen, as well as a film screening, music and refreshments.

A memorial linking Oslo and Utøya

Faldbakken’s sculpture stands opposite the Government Quarter’s landmark 1958 H-Block, close to the entrance of the new 22 July Centre.

The location places the memorial directly within one of the two sites targeted on July 22, 2011. That afternoon, a far-right Norwegian extremist detonated a bomb outside the government offices in Oslo, killing eight people. He then travelled to the island of Utøya, where he murdered 69 people attending the AUF summer camp. Most of those killed on the island were teenagers.

The attacks were the deadliest acts of terrorism in modern Norwegian history.

Following the tragedy, the Norwegian government decided to establish two official national memorial sites: one connected to Utøya and another in the Government Quarter.





Faldbakken won the international competition to design the Oslo memorial with his proposal for Upholding. His selection was announced in April 2025 after a two-stage competition and an extensive process involving survivors, families, public officials and community representatives.

A massive structure with a fragile image

At the center of Upholding is a large industrial steel structure originally built to support and move Pablo Picasso’s mural The Fishermen from the demolished Y-Block to its new location in the Government Quarter.

Faldbakken reused the form of that temporary rig, transforming it into a monumental sculpture filled with a mosaic composed of approximately 300,000 pieces of stone.

One side of the mosaic depicts a small wading bird, a common greenshank, standing among reeds and twigs reflected in the waters of the Tyrifjord near Utøya. The image introduces a quiet, vulnerable presence within the enormous steel framework.

The opposite side reveals the structure’s geometric bracing system, painted in deep blue, dark green and vivid red. These colors emphasize the physical framework supporting the mosaic and draw attention to the labor required to keep the immense work standing.

Together, the steel rig and the image of the bird create a symbolic connection between the Government Quarter and Utøya, the two locations of the attacks.

“My motivation has been to create a work of art for those who were killed that day,” Faldbakken said while presenting the project.

The artist described the sculpture as intentionally imposing, even brutal, with its physical weight reflecting the lasting burden the attacks have placed on Norwegian society. The mosaic, by contrast, introduces a handmade, tactile image of a life that is small, exposed and irreplaceable.

Thousands helped complete the mosaic

The final stage of the memorial became a collective act of remembrance.

Faldbakken, Public Art Norway and the 22 July Centre invited survivors, bereaved families, teenagers and members of the public to help place the final stones in the mosaic.

Over three weeks, around 2,000 people participated in a temporary workshop established at the memorial site. Together, they added approximately 7,000 stones to the work.

The final stone was placed by Merete Stamneshagen, chair of the National Support Group after 22 July, whose daughter was killed on Utøya.

The collaborative process concluded years of public consultation, seminars and discussions surrounding how Norway should commemorate the attacks and represent their continuing impact.





Remembering the past while defending democracy

Rather than presenting the memorial solely as a place for contemplating death and loss, Faldbakken designed Upholding as a reflection on the continuing work required to preserve democratic society.

The unfinished, industrial character of the steel framework evokes construction, repair and maintenance. It suggests that democracy is not permanent or self-sustaining, but something that must constantly be rebuilt, protected and supported.

The bird offers a contrasting image of life and forward movement. Its alert gaze and delicate position convey both vitality and vulnerability.

According to curator and competition jury member Trude Schjelderup Iversen, the sculpture proposes a new form of memorial art by connecting remembrance with the defense of the democratic principles targeted during the attacks.

Its strength, she said, lies in making visible the fragile conditions that allow democratic life to continue.

The memorial also stands near the 22 July Centre, a national learning institution dedicated to sharing knowledge about the attacks, their causes and their consequences.

Together with Utøya and the new memorial, the center forms part of Norway’s continuing effort to remember those who were killed, support those who survived and confront the extremist ideology that motivated the violence.

Fifteen years after the attacks, AUF has returned to Utøya and government employees have begun returning to the reconstructed Government Quarter. For survivors and bereaved families, however, the consequences remain lifelong.

With the opening of Upholding, Norway has created not only a place of national remembrance, but also a public monument to the continuing responsibility of defending tolerance, pluralism and democratic life.