Celebration of life

Late summer, I was visiting  a friend in Oslo. The weather was great, the city was busy and we tried to find somewhere to eat at Karl Johan (Oslo main street). While waiting for food, I looked around and my attention was drawn towards a statue in the park across the street, and people's reactions to it and interaction with it.

The statue depicts the pagan god Pan and Pan was known for his sexual powers. So there he was in the middle Oslo with an erected organ and was getting a lot of attention from people passing by, young and old. A great photo opportunity.

I loved to sit and watch the 'buzz' and the playful interaction the statue created with it's 'audience'. So simple and joyful. A lot of neglected public art would envy this attention. The statue is a creation of Per Ung who died recently (2013). Per Ung was/is probably one of the greatest norwegian artists of our time and I guess that he would love to see his statue becoming 'alive' this way.  A celebration of life.

Farewell to Brakkebygrenna

Late march this year I visited Gamlebyen (Old Town) an area in the inner city of Oslo and part of the oldest urban areas within the norwegian capital. Today, the area is characterized by apartment buildings from the late 1800s, and some shops, restaurants and pubs. In this area I looked up 'Brakkebygrenda', a free community illegaly established on a empty estate.

The community is sheltered by a large wooden graffiti painted fence in St. Halvards st. 27

The project startet in 1999 and was established in Old Town in year 2000. The inspiration for the project came from Germany, where after the Berlin Wall was set free, large tracts of land without clear ownership became available and alternative communities were formed. Brakkebygrenda has been controversial from the start, and the authorities never recognised the settlers.

  
The aim of the project was to create an alternative living environment and to live as organic as possible in the urban environment and Brakkebygrenda developed into a small community based on ecological and energy saving principles. The accommodation consisted of caravans, sheds, cottages and mobile homes and even old cars. Residential numbers was about 10 people plus dogs and cats. Each resident was responsible for their own living space and took take part in the collective through plenary meetings.

Inside, I was free to move around and the few residents I met was friendly, but didn't like to be photographed because of their continously fight with the authorities and the police. 

June 4th, after 4 years of occupation, 20 police officers and reprecentatives from the Council cut down the fence, moved out the residents by force and destroyed their homes. See video here. A space for counterculture and alternativ ways of thinking and living is gone.