The July 22 Centre opened
Historical archive
Published under: Solberg's Government
Publisher: Ministry of Local Government and Modernisation
Press release | Date: 22/07/2015 | Last updated: 24/07/2015
Today the July 22 Centre opened in the Government Administration Complex. The Centre houses an exhibition about the terrorist attack on 22 July and the ways is which the society confronted the terrorism in the period thereafter. "I am glad that the July 22 Centre is now open. Knowledge and openness are the most important defences against hatred, violence and extremism," says Minister of Local Government and Modernisation Jan Tore Sanner.
The exhibition in the Centre tells about the events on the day when the terrorism struck and from the period thereafter through text, objects, full-motion video and photographs.
"The terrorist attack on 22 July 2011 was an attack on our democracy and on important values such as diversity and equality. The attack, the way we as a nation confronted the terrorism and the way we as a society based on the rule of law dealt with the terrorist are an important part of our history that we have to convey," says Sanner.
Youth are an important target group for the Centre. At the start of the school year this autumn, a separate teaching plan aimed at years 10 to 13 will be ready. The website of the July 22 Centre shall also be helpful to teachers who want to teach the history concerning 22 July.
"With good knowledge, we are better equipped to learn from these events and oppose hatred and extremism in the future. The Centre and the teaching plan shall contribute to this," says Sanner.
The Department of Historical Studies at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU) has the professional responsibility for the Centre. The exhibition was created in close cooperation with the Norwegian Labour Youth League (AUF) and the National Support Group for the Victims of the 22 July Attacks.
"We have been concerned with creating an objective and documentary exhibition without any form of dramatization. We added nothing, and we removed nothing. I hope the exhibition will be a place for reflecting upon what 22 July means to us at present," says project manager for the exhibition, Associate Professor Tor Einar Fagerland at NTNU.
The Centre is located on the first floor of Høyblokka (the government high-rise building) in the Government Administration Complex. The exhibition is open to the public Monday to Saturday from 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. and on Sundays from 12:00 noon to 4:00 p.m. The Norwegian Government Security and Service Organisation (GSSO) is in charge of running the Centre.
More about the July 22 Centre: