The landscape we move through paints a picture

of how we are shaped by experiences that are not our own.

May 8, 2025 marks 80 years since Norway was liberated from the Nazi occupation. By then, East Finnmark had already been liberated on October 25, 1944, thanks to Stalin's Red Army. Norwegian Partisans lived in caves and earthen huts and together with partisan aides they contributed to mapping troop movements and monitoring shipping in East Finnmark which they reported back to our Russian allies. Over 13,700 Soviet prisoners died in Norwegian prison camps, a number that exceeds Norway's own losses.

Geopolitics and the changing security situation activate the militarized landscape and therefore also memories and infrastructure after the Second World War. How does the dramatic war history of Eastern Finnmark affect today's society?

After the war, the partisans and their aides were called the winners of the War, but the losers of the peace. While the "Gutta på skauen" were honored with medals and hero status in society, it is publicly known that they were massively monitored and harassed by the Norwegian authorities. King Harald's apology to the Partisans in 1992 had great significance for the Partisans who had survived the war and their descendants.

In 2023, a heated argument broke out at the Liberation Monument in Kirkenes between the Russian Consul General Nikolay Konygin and the Mayor Magnus Mæland in Kirkenes. A Russian woman living in Passvik acted as a kind of agitator. The mayor had asked the Consul General in advance not to participate, while the municipality had chosen to lay a wreath in Ukrainian colors. The date of the incident was October 25, 79 years after the Red Army liberated Norway. The whole thing was broadcast on Nrk. The film also follows various public memorial ceremonies that are linked to the local history of East Finnmark's war history - the film seeks to contextualize why these have a continued significance today and how this history is entangeled with todays conflict.

The project Scar Formations render visible the historical passive and contemporary active militarized landscape in the border areas between Norway and Russia.  The project focuses particularly on Sør Varanger and the Varanger Peninsula, where many of the Norwegian Partisans and their partisan helpers had their homes and many of their descendants still live.

The project consists of HD-film 35. min, photography, sculptural installations and is supported by Pikene på Broen and Falstadsenteret.

Kirkenes on the evening of October 25, 2024, marks 80 years since the town was liberated from the Nazi regime and came under administration by the Red Army until October 1945."

On the 25th of October 2024 at 12 PM in Kirkenes, Norway, the Russian Consulate commemorated the 80th anniversary of the Red Army's liberation of Norway from the German Nazi regime. This event also honored the 13,700 Sovjet russian war prisoners who perished in German camps on Norwegian territor during WWII. Following a disagreement the previous year, Norwegian authorities decided to separate the celebrations for Norway and Russia.

An unofficial Russian war monument is located in Persfjord, outside of Vardø, Norway. Norwegian authorities are debating whether it should be removed from the site, as there are concerns regarding the falsification and manipulation of war history.

Fort Kiberg

MILITARY LANDSCAPES

Nyrud, Passvik river devides the norwegian and Russian territories, A german buildt bridge from WWII, destroyed by