Against Queer Monumentality

In 2022, it was fifty years since the Norwegian state repealed section 213 of the Criminal Code, which criminalized the sex life of men who have sex with men. To mark this democratic “milestone” in Norwegian history, the Norwegian Archive for Queer History, the National Museum, and the National Library took the initiative to make 2022 into a “Queer Culture Year” and invited “all institutions, organizations, researchers, students, and others to join us in researching, highlighting, and making visible queer history across the country.” The initiative resulted in an unprecedented number of exhibitions, seminars, and events on queer art, memory, and history. This chapter gives a personal, critical assessment of a selection of art exhibitions, projects, and public debates that was part of the Queer Culture Year, with a special focus on artist Børre Sæthre’s installation The Sound of the Atom Splitting (2021). Through an analysis of how the new institutional investment in queer art is shaped by discourses of diversity, inclusion, and visibility, the essay argues for the importance of giving space to the discomfort that clings to queer history - including the sadness, frustration, and rage over the persistent consequences of homophobia, transphobia, and racism past and present.