Today I was standing outside the National theatre in Oslo, waiting for two friends who are visiting this weekend. I was very pleased to notice that someone had draped a sash in the colours of the Ukrainian flag across the statue of one of the most beloved and important actors in Norwegian history, Per Aabel (1902-99). The statue is located in the area between the theatre and the metro station, and it is an easily noticeable sight for those who walk through this part of the city. Aabel is here shown in his role as Jean de France, the title character of one of Ludvig Holberg's comedies, and in this sense the expression of solidarity with Ukraine is displayed on an object that encapsulates centuries of Norwegian theatre history.
Such displays of solidarity are found throughout Oslo, and I aim to present a selection of some of them in a future blogpost. But this case acquired a more specific importance to me, which is why I have decided to treat it in a separate post.
As I was waiting, I sat down on a stone plinth next to the statue and started reading, sometimes moving out of the way when I noticed that people were taking pictures of the statue and its Ukrainian sash. A group of foreigners addressed me, asking about the statue and the building, and followed up with a few other questions about the city, making me an impromptu tour guide. When I had pointed them in the direction of the royal residence, they thanked me and as they were leaving they told me they were refugees from Ukraine. I welcomed them to the country and waved goodbye. Later on, I came to notice that there were several other small groups of people in the city who also appeared to be Ukrainian refugees.
The brief encounter with the group of Ukrainians made me very thankful to whomever placed the sash on the statue of Per Aabel, which is easy to notice and placed in a central thoroughfare. As the Russian invasion of Ukraine continues and the sheer human misery is increasing every day, it is often easy to get the feeling that various displays of solidarity are pointless and unimportant. The wearing of Ukrainian colours or placing the Ukrainian flag on screens or posters might seem like worthless exercises done more for the sake of those who display these symbols than those who are affected by the war. But for the group of Ukrainians I chanced to meet, I got the sense that this tiny token of solidarity, of knowledge about the situation, served as a form of welcome to people who are uprooted from their homes and forced to shelter in a foreign country. Such displays of solidarity are of course not enough in order to help the situation improving, but they are not unimportant.
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