Exhibition
Kjartan Slettemark: Byens Bilde

In 1965, Kjartan Slettemark was part of the UKS exhibition series “Byens bilde” (image of the city), displaying selected artists’ work in a glass vitrine positioned in front of the Norwegian Parliament in Oslo. Slettemark’s contribution, a collage, was entitled Av rapport fra Vietnam. Barn overskylles av brennende napalm. Deres hud brennes til svarte sår og de dør. (Report from Vietnam. Children are showered in napalm. Their skin burns to black wounds and they die.)

The work stirred national debate and even drew international attention. The controversy peaked in May 1965 when a man vandalized Slettemark’s work by throwing paint at it. In August 1965 a second perpetrator significantly damaged the piece, attacking the vitrine with an axe.

From folder | Za-L0008 & Fa-L0011-6

*This information is taken from the UKS Archive (1921–1998)—part of The National Archives of Norway—which is currently accessible in full at our venue in Oslo. To review the complete list of the UKS Archive’s physical folders, please click here.