History
The powerful art project The IronRoses was initiated by Tobbe Malm and Tone Mørk Karlsrud after the gruesome attack in Oslo and on Utøya July 22nd 2011. The two artists were deeply moved by the sea of roses that grew in front of the Oslo Cathedral and in the streets of the city the following days. Inspired by the spontaneous solidarity amongst strangers, they started The IronRoses project and invited blacksmiths from all over the world to forge iron roses and send them to Norway. The project quickly grew and soon also survivors and others affected were invited to visit Tobbe's workshop to talk, process the grief and forge their own roses for the project.
1000 roses from all over the world are now assembled into the final work. The roses are symbols of engagement and solidarity in the aftermath of terror, and are put together with great care to make a complete sculpture. The sculpture is a gift to the City of Oslo, and the final process is coordinated and financed by Kulturetaten (the Culture Agency).
From 2011 until Kulturetaten (the Culture Agency) overtook the responsibility for funding, the project was supported by contributions from private individuals, enterprises, municipalities and other organizations
An international project
It was the roses that inspired, and the individuals, as well as the collective love that became the soul of the project. The fact that we were together, nationally and internationally, became the driving force, and it was the opposition to violence and terror that made blacksmiths from Australia and other parts of the world travel all the way to Norway to personally deliver their roses. Because it was important. The iron roses are an international and world-unique art project, which is also a document of what happened after July 22, 2011.1000 individual iron roses are each a strong expression, and when exposed together, we can sense the collective power we withhold.
In September 2011, they launched the Facebook page Iron Rose for Norway. The message was simple and clear. Forge an iron rose for Norway, an eternal rose with care for Norway and those affected by the July 22 terror. In October of the same year, the first roses came to Norway. The project has engaged and inspired blacksmiths in Norway and around the world to open their workshops with the forging of roses and conversations in focus. It has resulted in praises from politicians, priests, former criminals and young adults as participants in social youth projects.
Over the years, many blacksmiths have come to Norway to personally present their roses.
A cold day in February 2013, a dozen of motorcycle riders from the Netherlands and Germany rolled into Bærums Verk with roses for the project.
Cooperation
During spring of 2012, the first relatives and survivors after the terror came to forge roses at Bærums Verk. Mothers, fathers, sisters and brothers, grandparents, aunts, uncles, friends and young people who had survived turned up to forge their own roses for their loved ones.
The collaboration with the National Support Group has been important for the project's development, and has simplified the communication with the municipality and the church.
The National Support Group after the July 22 events
Placement
After slightly different designs and land options, the project has now found its place in the Cathedral Park, close to where the original rose sea was. The art committee working on the project in its present form consists of artist Tobbe Malm, project manager Inger Gogstad and sculptor conservator Ingrid Skard Skomedal from Kulturetaten, head of the national support group after July 22, Lisbeth Røyneland, Leading cathedral priest Elisabeth Thorsen and Helge Lunder, who has worked as an art consultant and architect. The project has also collaborated closely with Tone Syrdalen Dovland from Car Free City Life / City Environment Agency.
The memorial is circular, 5.5 meters wide and approx. 50-80 cm high at the highest. It consists of 1000 iron roses placed like a flower bed on a circular steel plate. This plate is enclosed in a molded ring in light concrete that protects the artwork and acts as a bench. The concrete bench will have a smooth sanded surface and have heating elements in the seating surface to melt snow and make it comfortable to sit on on cold days. The forged roses have a great variety in design, complexity, robustness and material composition, so the artwork is alive in the sense that the various roses over time and at different speeds will rust, change appearance and give traces on the steel plate they are attached to. The contrast between this vulnerable and perishable becomes apparent to the bright, smooth, enclosing concrete slab.
The assembling of the Iron Roses for the 22nd of July Memorial - summer 2019
Contact project group
Artist and initiator
Tobbe Malm
jernmalm@gmail.com
482 37 221
The National Support Group after the July 22 events
Lisbeth Røyneland
stottegruppen@22juli.info
MDH architects
Helge Lunder
helge@mdh.no
Oslo Cathedral
Elisabeth Thorsen
et894@kirken.no
Oslo Municipality The Cultural Agency
