Art in Tiriltoppen Kindergarten

Artist: Harald Oredam. Title: ‘River in Ocean’ 2014. Art consultant: Grethe Hald.

Tiriltoppen Kindergarten is situated near both the forest and the fjord, so it is no wonder that creatures from both the sea and the land pop up here. In a group of four sculptures, a hippopotamus is easily recognisable.  Fortunately, he is very nice and tame, and he is not too big, so the children can sit on his back. They can also sit on the long, knobbly back of another, more abstract animal. Perhaps it is a sea serpent, slithering up to the waterhole where animals gather? Compared to these two more or less familiar creatures, the remaining two granite sculptures in the group are less recognisable. Rather than something concrete from the animal kingdom, they are more about shape and design. The children probably like them all the same. They are smooth to touch, and perfect for climbing or sitting on. The power of these sculptures lies in their shapes – they eradicate the borders between the real and the unreal, between the concrete and the abstract in the experience. Harald Oredam, originally from Andøya, Troms, is one of the veterans of Norwegian sculpture. His work is represented in 20 different outdoor locations in Norway, as well as in Croatia and Turkey.