Scottish artist Katie Paterson has created a one hundred year artwork Future Library “Framtidsbiblioteket” for the city of Oslo: 1000 trees have been planted in Nordmarka (a forest just outside Oslo) which will supply paper for a special anthology of books to be printed in 100 years’ time. Between 2014 and until 2114, every year one writer will contribute an unreleased text conceived and produced in the hope of finding a receptive reader in an unknown future. with the writings held in trust, unpublished. Tending the forest and ensuring its preservation for the one hundred year duration of the artwork is the conceptual counterpoint to the invitation extended to each writer. The manuscripts will be held in trust in a specially designed room in the ‘New Deichmanske Library’ which opened in 2020 in Bjørvika, Oslo: intended to be a space of contemplation, this room is lined with wood from the forest. The authors’ names will be on display, but none of the manuscripts will be available for reading – until their publication in one century’s time. The ‘Future Library’ room is situated on the top floor of the library along with the special collection of books and archives: it faces in the direction of the forest, which can be glimpsed on the horizon. A small, intimate room, encouraging only one or two people at a time, it was designed in collaboration with architects Lund Hagem and Atelier Oslo. Each spring, a special ceremony in the forest marks the handover of the author’s manuscript. An event free and open to all, the handover is at the heart of ‘Future Library’. It is a ritual which involves a public walk into the forest, where the author gives a reading; then a Q&A event in the ‘Deichmanske library’ in Oslo: the story-telling event in the forest and the in-conversation event in the library will continue for generations. The ‘Future Library Handover’ ceremony for 2020, 2021 and 2022 took place on June 12th 2022 at Frognerseteren station: the ‘Future Library Silent Room’ in the new Deichman Library was officially opened, and a conversation event between Karl Ove Knausgård, Ocean Vuong and Tsitsi Dangarembga closed the ceremony. The Trust is inviting one hundred writers of any nationality or age to contribute works in any genre or language, and length. The authors are being selected for their outstanding contributions to literature and poetry and for their works’ ability to capture the imagination of this and future generations: key words in the selection process are “imagination” and “time”. The authors invited so far are Margaret Atwood, David Mitchell, Sjón, Elif Shafak, Han Kang, Tsitsi Dangarembga, Karl Ove Knausgård and Ocean Vuong. Read more on Futurelibrary.no
