– We are enormously grateful for all the love and dedication that has found its way into this ceremony, and that the interest in my father’s life and art continues. We were present, even though we were not there physically, says Bonnie Brofos to Dagbladet.
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Over two years after one of Norway’s most famous visual artists, Terje «Hariton Pushwagner» Brofos (1940-2018), was assisted in Kunstnernes hus, the urn was placed in the grave at Vår Frelsers gravlund in Oslo.
Read all about the urn reduction her.
Coronafast
Pushwagner has two daughters, Elizabeth and Bonnie Brofos. Bonnie lives in England, and was not allowed to attend today’s ceremony. She says that she is sad about the corona situation in her home country which means that she and her mother do not get to Norway.
– We were not allowed to be there due to Covid-19 restrictions, something my mother and I are sorry for. In any case, we followed the broadcast from England. As always, the team has worked incredibly hard to ensure a beautiful and suitable burial site for my father’s last resting place, Brofos tells Dagbladet.
Pushwagner’s closest, Stefan Stray and Jan Verner-Carlsson, worked with the burial site and ceremony for a long time, and also received help from a TV producer to broadcast the urn reduction.
Dagbladet broadcast the ceremony live. It was led by comedian and podcaster Espen Thoresen.
Such was Pushwagner’s last voyage
Pushwagner’s daughter, Elizabeth Brofos, thinks it was a worthy last trip.
– This is a special day with both joy and sorrow. I think the grave site has become incredibly beautiful. Finally we have a place to visit. Both to remember him, but also a place to find inspiration, she told Dagbladet after the ceremony.
Special urn
Pushwagner’s ‘unknown’ daughter
A large and black obelisk has been erected in Our Savior’s graveyard in memory of Pushwagner. The stone is elaborate with details from Pushwagner’s artwork.
The actual urn with the ashes after Pushwagner is also very much in the spirit of the visual artist. It is shaped like a pill and was placed on an urn shaped like a tablet.
– I have visited Our Saviour’s graveyard before and was touched by how nice and peaceful it is there. The urn and the tombstone stand out as unique and make me smile. I’m sure my father would smile too, says Bonnie Brofos.
Music and words of remembrance
Wednesday’s ceremony began with a procession from the upper entrance towards Akersveien. A saxophone quartet, consisting of the renowned jazz musicians Knut Riisnæs, Odd Riisnæs, Vidar Johansen and David Edge, played in honor of Pushwagner.
Before and after the urn reduction, art historian Tommy Sørbø and Pushwagner’s old friend, author Jan Verner-Carlsson, gave short memorial speeches.
Pushwagner’s funeral took place in a packed Kunstnernes hus in Oslo in May 2018. See photos from and read about the equally original event her.
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