Rakel Emhjellen Paulsen

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Mongstad Memories

The refinery at Mongstad is the largest Norwegian processing plant for petroleum and theonly active which is exclusively devoted to the processing of crude oil. It is a cornerstone ofthe Norwegian petroleum industry, scene of the Mong scandal and fables of a Norwegianmoon landing, and workplace for thousands of people since its establishment in 1972.Less known is the story of Mongstad before 1972. Around 80 people lived here; somecultivated the land, others worked at sea or in local small-scale industry. Like many otherrural places in the post-war decades, the municipalities of Alver and Austrheim placed theirhopes in large-scale industry to secure a future for the area, as populations declined during the20th century. The location and natural harbor made Mongstad attractive for industrialestablishment, and initiatives to secure stable industrial employment were largely welcomedby inhabitants. But in a fateful turn of events in 1970, landowners of Mongstad were facedwith a crucial dilemma: To establish operations at Mongstad, Norsk Hydro needed not onlythe pastures (utmark) but also the arable land (innmark). The choice stood between“bygdedød” – the slow death of the village – in the absence of new jobs, or new industrialjobs in a future without the village. By Christmas in 1972, the last houses were dismantled bythe residents themselves, and the refinery opened. Photographs from this period show analmost unimaginable juxtaposition of industrial development and traditional Norwegian rurallife in the same place at the same time.25 years passed before any of the vacated villagers wished to return. But while others mustview the refinery from outside the strictly monitored fence, every five years since 1997 thevillage reunion Mongstadtreffet is allowed to enter the refinery to visit the sites of their past.Through the window of a tour bus, their stories bring to life their old homes, the boathouses,the factory, the sheltered habour, the beach, the heather and all else which is no longer visibleto the naked eye.The project Mongstad Memories deals with these layers of memories and reality in this place:not only the memories of the village that mean something to those who experienced it andtheir descendants, as well as the story it tells of Norwegian industrialization, but also thefuture memories of a refinery plant with significant industrial and cultural value.Mongstadtreffet's bus tour is the framework for the project. Our modified route moves along aseries of architectural interventions at curated points that show particularly significantencounters between the former and the existing Mongstad. The points have been identifiedthrough compilations of maps of Mongstad per 1960 and 2023, studies of old photographsfrom the village and of models of the installations in the refinery, and conversations withformer inhabitants. Our curation evokes fragments of the village of Mongstad while placingparticular value in parts of the existing industrial plant, and when Norwegian crude oilprocessing comes to an end, our wish is that these fragments will remain for the future.

Rakel Emhjellen Paulsen

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Mongstad Memories