For the love of fjords

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Numbered Edition30

A Chinese mining company wants to construct the biggest mine in the north of Europe and

dump all the waste in the Førde fjord. This specific fjord is used by the wild salmon to enter their

place of mating, which is located in a lake further up the ally. At the same time, we are farming

salmon at the entrance of the same fjord, which we want to sell back to the Chinese. The fjord

depicted in the picture is from our imagination, but the story is true.

The chair on top of the mountain is the empty chair of Liu Xiaobo. He got the Nobel peace

Prize in 2010, but was not allowed to come to Norway and receive the award by the Chinese

government. He was in prison at that time because of his involvement in the fight for democracy in

China. All diplomatic ties were broken and the Norwegian salmon was cut off from the Chinese

market, as a response to the impartial choice of the Nobel comity. Since then, the Norwegian

government has worked tirelessly to improve our relationship with the Chinese, while at the same

time, neglecting our mission of peace. We see our self as a nation of peace, with the peace prize and the Oslo-process. Still, we are selling weapons and equipment for war and are still bombing and killing people in countries far away, which has done nothing to provoke us.

The picture is built in a national romantic style with elements from the artistic period from

the middle of the 19-century. You will, among other things, find the famous Norwegian painting by

Tidemann and Gude: «Brudeferden i Hardenager». You will also find trolls, rainbows, leprechauns, and famous Norwegian artists like Edvard Munch and Christian Krogh hidden in the picture. This is to underline that we in Norway are so in love with our own country, that it’s hard for us to see our mistakes. We are blinded by love.

It’s not more than a thousand years ago that we were bloodthirsty Vikings, raping and

killing our way through Europe on our quest for wealth and glory. We are proud of our valiant past,

at the same time that we are scared to death that our new countrymen are going to behave just like

them. These immigrants are begging on their knees to get into this promised land, for a chance of

a better life, but unfortunately, there are praying to the wrong god. At the same time, we are happy

to welcome tourists from all around the world to experience the wonderful nature that happens to

be within our borders. Cruise ships and caravans are squeezed in where ever they may fit, while

they are vomiting fossil fuel at a large scale, pumped up from the deep sea right there on the

horizon.

Ibsen wrote «An enemy of the people» in 1882, but the theme of the play is just as

applicable to today’s society. A scene from the play is depicted on the bottom left corner of the

picture, while Ibsen himself is sitting just above, watching it all unfold.

The illusion that we Norwegians are better, more honest, and kinder than people that are

born in other countries, must be crushed. We have to understand that there are decisions that are

being made in this country that are bad for our health and the ecosystem both locally and globally.

Decisions that make a small portion of the people rich, while the rest of the population must suffer

the consequences.