a collision, a departure and a tragedy

after creating the drawing portraying the ancient conflict between employer and employee (Symbiosis - Youngstorget), I was drawn to digging deeper into the possibilities here. And so I chose “Jernbanetorget” as my next spot to decipher. This being the square in front of the main train station, and so representing our constant need to travel, to expand forever on nature’s expense.

Lots of references here - for non-norwegins I can point out that there is a sledge hammer held by some roots under the flying piece of earth on the left hand side. On this same square, there is a statue of one such hammer that has struck and shattered a swastika. It’s a memorial of “Osvaldgruppa”, a left wing resistance group during the Second World War.

Secondly there is also a bronze statue of a tiger - its sole significance is that Oslo is sometimes referred to as the tiger city. It’s was first used by Bjørnstjerne Bjørnson in 1879 with the horse as a symbol of the rural parts.