Public Art Norway (KORO) announces the completion of the first phase of public art projects in the new Government Quarter in Oslo.
Oslo’s Government Quarter, a historic area of roughly eight city blocks in the city center, is undergoing major transformations in the wake of the two-part attack of July 22, 2011, in which an extremist far-right nationalist killed 77 people in the Quarter and at the Labor Party Youth Camp at Utøya. In April 2026, the Office of the Prime Minister and six Norwegian government ministries returned to work at the Quarter for the first time in fifteen years.
The public art project at the Government Quarter addresses the site’s complex history which, as a symbolic and practical center of the Norwegian state apparatus, stretches back to the late 1800s. Characterized by a series of interrupted developments, including the Nazi occupation of Oslo under WWII, the Quarter presents a patchwork of different architectural, stylistic, cultural and ideological expressions that track a story of Norwegian nation-building.
Intervening into this complex site, the new public art project considers both recent and earlier histories together with broader discourses of monument making and art in public space, weaving together works from different periods with new commissions and acquisitions by a diverse range of Norwegian and international artists.
Since 2021, the public art project at the Government Quarter has produced new permanent, architecturally integrated works by Jumana Manna, Outi Pieski and Damla Kilickiran; site-specific commissions by Damien Ajavon, Else Marie Hagen, Otobong Nkanga, Elise Storsveen, Mari Slaattelid, Hilde Skancke Pedersen; and new placements for major public works by Do Ho Suh, Vanessa Baird, Hannah Ryggen, Irma Salo Jæger, Ann Rassmussen, Edvard Munch, John Audun Hauge, and Pablo Picasso, among others. The project also introduces a number of new acquisitions into government buildings by artists including Gunvor Nervold Antonsen, Per Barclay, Lene Berg, Liv Dessen, Marius Engh, Gjertrud Hals, Elisabeth Haarr, Mette Hellenes, Ahmed Umar, Linn Rebekka Åmo, Silje Figenschou Thoresen, Lotte Konow Lund, Marthe Elise Stramrud, Sille Storihle, Lars Sandås, Kiyoshi Yamamoto, Sjur Eide Aas, Sverre Gullesen, and Pål Vigeland.
Together with a curated selection of roughly 300 existing artworks previously installed in the ministries’ offices, these works form the core of the newly established Norwegian Government Ministries Art Collection.
On Saturday, June 6th, from 1-5pm, KORO invites the public to a celebration of the artists and art projects, taking place outdoors at the Government Quarter. The event will include performances by Mari Boine, choreographer Jassem Hindi, and the premiere of the newly commissioned performative outdoor theater work The Weight of a Demonstration, written and directed by Pernille Mercury Lindstad, with an original score by Marcus Paus.
The curators for the project are Helga-Marie Nordby and Drew Snyder together with former members of the curatorial team Ana María Bresciani, Elisabeth Byre and Nora Ceciliedatter Nerdrum.
The plazas and outdoor areas of the Government Quarter are open to the public and accessible year-round. Continuing toward 2030, the second phase of the art project will unfold further projects following the construction of a new building and public park connecting the historic Akersgata and Møllergata streets.
The material index of Jumana Manna’s artwork Sebastia can be explored through the newly launched online platform sebastia.koro.no.
Public Art Norway (KORO) is Norway’s national body responsible for curating, producing and activating art in public spaces. KORO manages an extensive collection of some 8,500 artworks accessible at around 1,000 sites throughout Norway and abroad. In addition, KORO is a national center for research and knowledge development within the field of public art.
