Tuesday, June 21, 2011

Steilneset Witch Trial Memorial by Peter Zumthor and Louise Bourgeois


Dedicated to 91 victims of a 17th century witch hunt in Vardo, The Witches of Finnmark Memorial is a collaboration between artist Louise Bourgeois and architect Peter Zumthor. Set to open on the 23rd of June, the monument is located at Steilneset in Vardo, the place where the burning of the vast majority of the witches occurred.

Inside a glass cube designed by Zumthor, Bourgeois' sculpture The Damned, The Possessed and The Beloved (2007 - 2010), is made up of a flaming chair surrounded by a ring of oval mirrors. A second building by Zumthor, made of wood and fabric and 125 meters long, has one illuminated window for each for the victims burnt at the stake.

In an interview on the collaboration, Peter Zumthor said: "The result is really about two things - there is the line, which is mine, and a dot, which is hers... Louise's installation is more about the burning and the aggression, and my installation is more about the life and emotions [of the victims]."
Image: Memorial in memory of the victims of witch trials by Peter Zumthor and Louise Bourgeois, Steilneset