New life from an old foundation wall
In spring 2026, the new Government Quarter opened, and at the same time the public could finally walk on the new city floor. The artwork that dominates the space between the High-Rise Block, the A-Block and Akersgata covers 800 square metres and is made up of stone from all over the country. It has been named Sebastia and was created by artist Jumana Manna.
Stone from two Allstad properties
We are very proud that stone from Allstad has also been used in the artwork. When the work was to be created, municipalities across the country were invited to donate stone. At that time, Alstahaug vicarage in Nordland was due to be demolished and rebuilt. We therefore asked the contractor to remove a foundation stone that was no longer going to be used. The stone weighed around 400 kilos. We have not had its type of rock confirmed, but it is probably gneiss or granite with traces of iron, quarried locally on the island of Alsten.
The original stone has now been divided into ten pieces, each of which has found its own place in the large puzzle on Johan Nygaardsvolds plass in Oslo.
In addition to the stone from Alstahaug, two stones from Selje Monastery in Stad Municipality are also represented in the artwork. The stones from Selje Monastery were donated by Vestland County Municipality, while Allstad owns the land on which the historic monastery area is located.
Every stone has its own story
Jumana Manna (1987) is an internationally acclaimed artist who works with film, sculpture and installations. She was born in the USA, grew up in Jerusalem and has studied, among other places, in Norway and the USA. The themes of her artwork often concern how history and cultural heritage are created through memories, preservation and legislation.
Read more about the artwork here.
In Sebastia, she has collected stone from all over Norway and given the materials new life, with each stone having its own story. The artwork contains stone from everything from quay structures and pavements to stone from the Royal Palace and the National Museum. The result is a city floor with both local and national connections.
The project has a website where you can read where the stones come from: sebastia.koro.no
