The VG daily newspaper display panel stood near the site where the car bomb exploded during the first terrorist attack in Norway. The panel’s glass was shattered by the shockwave at 3:25 p.m. on July 22, 2011, and it has remained untouched ever since—still displaying the newspaper pages from that same day.
I decided to preserve this panel by relocating it to a new site, directly in front of the government building that was attacked. The display still holds the newspapers from the day of the bombing, and its fractured glass has not been replaced. Together, these two elements symbolize both what existed before the attack and what followed it. The physical act of moving the piece becomes a gesture that urges reflection on how this tragedy is understood—politically and socially.
This work confronts the moment when the personal experience of reading the news transforms into a collective realization: the news on display is no longer current—it is frozen in time, marking the day of a terrible national memory. One of the central motivations behind this project is to deconstruct the social mechanisms of confronting the reality of such a disaster.
Produced by Koro, The Organization of Public Art,
Norway
About the Project
The bombing and mass murder on July 22nd represent the most devastating attack on Norway in peacetime. The car bomb that detonated in the government quarter caused extensive damage to several ministries, and windows in surrounding buildings were shattered. Outside VG’s offices at Akersgata 55, the newspaper display case holding the day’s news was damaged by the blast, and its glass cracked. As a silent reminder of what had happened, it remained untouched until 2013.
Ahmad Ghossein would occasionally pass by and see people stopping to look at the display, where what was once news had become a part of history, a final snapshot of society before the catastrophe struck. When he learned that the panel was going to be discarded, he explored the possibility of preserving it as an artwork. His idea was that the panel stands as an imprint of the bombing itself, which so fundamentally challenged Norway’s national community and self-image.
Ghossein first created a film, This is Not the News of Today, in which people on the street were asked whether the shattered display should be preserved. Many of those interviewed expressed that the panel is important for future generations’ understanding of the terror attack.
The display was moved to a bus shelter across from the VG building in 2013, where it remained until July 2020. Over these years, Ghossein fought to keep the panel near its original site, arguing that without its physical and spatial context, it would no longer carry the same powerful connection to the tragic events of that July day in 2011. Now that a comprehensive plan for the government quarter is in place, the display has been permanently relocated to the very spot where it stood during the attack.
When an artist engages with a singular event like the July 22, 2011 attack in Norway, care, respect, and understanding are essential. With the project Relocating the Past: Ruins for the Future, Ahmad Ghossein has helped us preserve a physical trace-or imprint-for the future. This raw and authentic object captures history, in a single moment, exactly as it unfolded.
Want to learn more about the art project? Download the publication
Producer
Bo Krister Wallström
Curator
Kristine Jærn Pilgaard
Civil Engineer
Haug og Holm-Bakke AS, represented by Øistein Pettersen
Construction
Olaf E. Eriksen AS, represented by Lars Dugbø
Steel Work
Østlandske Montasje, represented by Cato Nystuen
Architect
Morten Løvseth
Produced by
KORO (Public Art Norway)
Photographer
Alette Schei Rørvik
Program
Art for Other Public Spaces
Address
Producer
Bo Krister Wallström
Curator
Kristine Jærn Pilgaard
Civil Engineer
Haug og Holm-Bakke AS, represented by Øistein Pettersen
Construction
Olaf E. Eriksen AS, represented by Lars Dugbø
Steel Work
Østlandske Montasje, represented by Cato Nystuen
Architect
Morten Løvseth
Produced by
KORO (Public Art Norway)
Photographer
Alette Schei Rørvik
Program
Art for Other Public Spaces
Address
Government Quarter, Akersgata, Oslo
