Norway has opened a new memorial for the 77 victims of the country’s deadliest terror attack in peacetime, days before its 15th anniversary.
On 22 July 2011, neo-Nazi Anders Breivik killed eight people with a car bomb in Oslo and shot dead another 69 – mostly teenagers – at a youth camp on Utoeya island. Hundreds more were injured in Norway’s worst atrocity in recent history.
On Sunday, survivors and relatives of the victims gathered in Oslo for the unveiling of a large artwork showing a bird native to Utoeya island.
The artist said the work was two-fold – to remember the victims and to engage the public in an act of democratic resilience against far-right ideologies that inspired the attack.
The contemporary artwork features a huge blue steel frame supporting a 12-metre (39ft) high stone mosaic that depicts a small wading bird, as well as straw and sticks reflected in the water.
Called Upholding, the memorial is located in Oslo’s renovated government district, close to the location of the bomb blast that started the 2011 attack.
The artist Matias Faldbakken said he had seen the bird on Utoeya island. Many of those killed on the island were teenagers involved with the Norwegian Labour Party’s youth wing, the AUF.
The names of all 77 victims are engraved on the memorial.
“July 22, 2011 was a brutal attack not only on individuals, but also on our democracy,” said Merete Stamneshagen, head of a support group for victims and survivors, quoted by the AFP news agency.
Norway’s Crown Prince Haakon and government officials also attended the inauguration ceremony in Oslo on Sunday.
Haakon also visited the new 22 July Centre – Norway’s national memorial and education centre dedicated to the attacks.
In 2012, Breivik was sentenced to 21 years in jail, the maximum a court in Norway can impose, though it can be extended for as long as he is deemed a threat.
Over the years, Breivik has challenged the terms of his sentence.
In 2016, he partially won his human rights case against Norway before it was overturned the following year.
In 2022, he failed in his bid for parole, with the court ruling he had not changed and remained a risk to society. In 2024, he unsuccessfully sued the government over claims of isolation, as he is kept separately from other prisoners for security reasons.
