Do you support the memorial for the Norwegian massacre victims?

[CreekDog]

Creating A 'Memory Wound' To Recall Those Who Were Lost



If you've had a chance to visit the September 11 memorials at Ground Zero in Manhattan, the Pentagon and western Pennsylvania — or perhaps have been to the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C. — then you have a sense of the powerful emotions that such places can stir up.

This week, the design was chosen for a memorial to the victims of the July 22, 2011, attacks in Norway that left 77 people dead and several hundred more wounded. Swedish artist Jonas Dahlberg's vision for what's being called a "memory wound" seems likely to join the list of such memorials that evoke strong feelings.

Dahlberg's concept cuts a channel through Utoya Island, where 69 of the victims — most of them young people attending a political camp — were shot and killed by right-wing extremist Anders Behring Breivik.

The architecture site DesignBoom.com writes that in Dahberg's design:

"Visitors are guided along a wooden pathway through the forest, creating a contemplative journey to the site of the cut. A pathway traverses into a tunnel, leading within the rocky landscape directly to the dramatic edge of the void.
"At the border ... [visitors] can see the flat vertical stone surface of the other side, where the names of those who died will be visibly inscribed into the terrain. The names will be close enough to read clearly yet ultimately out of reach, an acknowledgement of what is forever irreplaceable."

http://www.npr.org/blogs/thetwo-way/2014/03/07/287263128/memory-wound-will-cut-through-site-of-norways-massacre?utm_medium=facebook&utm_source=npr&utm_campaign=nprnews&utm_content=03072014

12 votes, 0 passes | Time left: Unlimited
	Yes, I support this memorial.
	11 (92%)
	No, I do not support this memorial.
	1 (8%)
	0 DU members did not wish to select any of the options provided.
Show usernames Disclaimer: This is an Internet poll

[Brickbat]

1. I'm curious, is your wording deliberate?

You can support the idea of a memorial without liking the design chosen.

FTR: I like both the idea of a memorial and this particular design.

[shenmue]

2. I would like some kind of memorial, but with a different design

I understand the intent, to show the heartbreak and utter confusion of the incident. But I think they'd be better off not cutting a chunk of land in half. Not necessary.

Just my opinion.

[Blue_Tires]

3. Not the method I would have chosen, but

if that's what the people of Norway agree on, who am I to argue?

[Yo_Mama]

32. Really

There should be a memorial. It's Norway's job to decide on the type of memorial, not anyone else's.

[Oakenshield]

4. No, I do not.

It gives the murderer more attention than he deserves. He's impacted enough lives without a memorial being built in the wake of such a tragedy.

[Lex]

34. The memorial is to the victims not the murderer.

Big difference.

[Oakenshield]

36. The memorial represents the tragedy that took place.

It gives the murderer even more of an impact that he's already had. Punish him to the full extent of the law then move on. We should have done the same after 9/11. Acts of terrorism should go largely unmarked. These sociopaths are looking to make themselves infamous, if they see it's a lost cause we may deter violence.

[Lex]

37. So...how you were killed decides whether or not you should have a memorial?

No, I don't think so.

[Oakenshield]

38. I've said my piece.

If all you want to do is pat yourself on the back, go right ahead.

[Lex]

44. Nonsensical reply

but ok.

[WorseBeforeBetter]

5. As we've seen from the Vietnam Veterans Memorial...

touch is powerful. I love the setting of this Norwegian memorial (forest, water, pathways), but am not so sure about the "out of reach" part, even though I understand what they are trying to convey by the "memory wound."

[sinkingfeeling]

6. I don't think it's any of our business what Norway designs and builds.

[Happyhippychick]

7. This.

[bigwillq]

9. That

[CTyankee]

10. thank you!

It is not for us to say.

[LiberalFighter]

11. That is my opinion too.

It is their memorial. Not ours. Their decision. Not ours.

[smokey nj]

14. I agree.

[pintobean]

17. +6

[GeorgeGist]

22. I know it isn't.

[scarletwoman]

31. Exactly. (nt)

[bigwillq]

8. I support it and I like the design.

But my opinion doesn't really matter.

Whatever they choose to do is none of my business.

[CreekDog]

16. i agree with that 100%

some have expressed actual opposition to the memorial and i wanted to gauge how widespread the sentiment was here.

[Boom Sound 416]

24. ...

[CreekDog]

28. real courageous post there

[cyberswede]

12. "Support" seems like an odd word

I would think everyone would support them having a memorial.

Are you curious whether or not we like the concept?

[bigwillq]

15. I think some may not support the idea

of a memorial.

I think one poster made that claim in this thread.

[Pretzel_Warrior]

13. the earth firsters really crack me up on this issue

"oh, they are destroying HABITAT". wtf? Do you realize how small this is in comparison to anything? Here's a slideshow that gives an idea of what a tiny space we're talking about.

and for the ones who asked about the animals cut off from the other side....it's already a friggin island!

http://inhabitat.com/norway-unveils-stunning-memory-wound-dedicated-to-utoya-island-massacre-victims/jonas-dahlberg-norway-memorial-4/?extend=1

[treestar]

20. True, they'd have to be more upset at the cutting into mountains

done many times for railroads and highways in the US.

[pinboy3niner]

39. One correction: the site isn't on the island, it's on the facing headland peninsula. nt

[Pretzel_Warrior]

40. Thanks. I stand corrected.

[countryjake]

18. Don't know whether I "support" it, I'm not Norwegian...

but that design was chosen by a majority in the competition for who would be the creator of that memorial.

While it is a moving tribute, the problem I would have with it (mainly, if I were one of the loved ones of the 69 who were murdered right there on that island) is that there is no longer access to the point of that tiny peninsula. When one goes to visit the place where a tragedy such as this has occurred, if you were directly affected and actually lost a child or friend, it seems that the very end of that island might be the spot you'd become the most contemplative, after walking the original trail to that point to take in the beauty of the area while being acutely aware of your loss. With the abrupt cut of this memorial, that will no longer be possible; it's stated that even the path that the campers always used is being bypassed and forgotten, in favor of a wide winding walkway.

So, as a parent who sat here aghast at the news of the bombing and then the massacre on that island, trying to imagine the "what if" my own child were cornered there, and given the horrible choice of heading for the beach to swim for her life or be shot down as she ran, I, myself, can also imagine that the loved ones may prefer that the island be left whole as a place for their own private reverie. But this was also a national tragedy for Norway in which 77 were killed, in all; this is the memorial that the country has chosen; and I'm not a Norwegian.

[treestar]

19. If they want it, they should do it

I don't see any great damage there, either.

[quinnox]

21. No

That looks very strange to me. But I'm not big on memorials to mass murder/acts of violence either. That counts for 9/11 as well. If there must be one, I would prefer it to be as small and unobtrusive as possible.

[FSogol]

29. No memorials for victims? What should memorials be for? I know, let's

have a memorial for all the children who weren't killed by gun toting rw madmen.

[Pretzel_Warrior]

41. DU tends to draw lots of contrarian folks, I guess

[CreekDog]

42. There's contrarian and there's anti social

A fair number of the latter can't be overlooked.

[FSogol]

43. Very true. n/t

[penultimate]

23. Whatever works for them...

The environmental impact seems rather inconsequential in the grand scheme of things. I'm sure there are some mines somewhere in Norway that have far more impact that the memorial ever would.

[FreeJoe]

25. Support it?

I can't see how my opinion on this is relevant. If a tragedy occurred in my community and we were trying to decide how to deal with it, I wouldn't care or appreciate people from the another place, culture, side of the world injecting themselves into our memorial.

[Skittles]

26. I think that is for the people of Norway to decide

[struggle4progress]

35. +

[scarletwoman]

30. Why in the world would you think it's our business to "support" it or not?

How many DUers actually live in Norway? I know of one, period. And I hope he doesn't see this stupid poll.

Why should any of us who don't live in Norway be passing judgement on whatever the Norwegians decide to do to memorialize that horrific event?

I sincerely wish you would just delete your OP, I think it's offensive and insensitive.

[uppityperson]

33. If it brings healing to the families and friends, yes. Not my decision.