Tracey Emin Wins International Competition for a Permanent, Site-Specific Sculpture on Museum Island, Oslo

The competition called for a new specially commissioned artwork on the Oslo harbour in connection with the construction of Oslo’s new Munch Museum, with funds reserved by the Oslo Municipality Art Programme.

 Emin’s new commission will be situated at the Museum Island, a new site south of the new Munch Museum, on the historical mouth of the Akerselva river. The commission is scheduled to be completed in time for the opening of the Museum in 2020.

Proposals were invited from seven internationally acclaimed artists: Matias Faldbakken, Tracey Emin, A K Dolven, Cristina Iglesias, Olafur Eliasson, Ragnar Kjartansson and Adrián Villar Rojas. The jury unanimously decided to select Tracey Emin’s The Mother as most fitting proposal for the Museum Island.

 In Tracey Emin’s proposal The Mother, a 7 meter high bronze statue of a kneeling naked woman will be positioned at the far end of the Museum Island, visible from the harbour promenade and neighboring buildings, and welcoming visitors arriving from the Oslo fjord.