Omfalos is a concrete and rock

sculpture Sculpture is the branch of the visual arts that operates in three dimensions. Sculpture is the three-dimensional art work which is physically presented in the dimensions of height, width and depth. It is one of the plastic arts. Durable sc ...

attributed to the Swedish artist

Lars Vilks Lars Endel Roger Vilks (20 June 1946 – 3 October 2021) was a Swedish visual artist and activist who was known for the controversy surrounding his drawings of Muhammad. He also created the sculptures ''Nimis'' and ''Arx'', made of driftwood an ...

. It was forcefully removed from a natural reserve area where it had been unlawfully erected, and currently belongs to the collections of the

Moderna Museet Moderna Museet ("the Museum of Modern Art"), Stockholm, Sweden, is a state museum for modern and contemporary art located on the island of Skeppsholmen in central Stockholm, opened in 1958. In 2009, the museum opened a new branch in Malmö in t ...

The sculpture

The name, ''Omfalos,'' derives from the Greek ''ομφαλός'' (''

omphalos An omphalos is a religious stone artifact, or baetylus. In Ancient Greek, the word () means "navel". Among the Ancient Greeks, it was a widespread belief that Delphi was the center of the world. According to the myths regarding the founding of ...

''), meaning "center of the world". It refers to the ancient sculpture ''

Omphalos An omphalos is a religious stone artifact, or baetylus. In Ancient Greek, the word () means "navel". Among the Ancient Greeks, it was a widespread belief that Delphi was the center of the world. According to the myths regarding the founding of ...

'' found at Delphi, Greece. The sculpture was erected in 1999 in the

Kullaberg Kullaberg () is a peninsula and nature reserve of land protruding into the Kattegat in Höganäs Municipality near the town of Mölle in southwest Sweden. The site in the province of Skåne is an area of considerable biodiversity supporting a num ...

natural reserve A nature reserve (also known as a wildlife refuge, wildlife sanctuary, biosphere reserve or bioreserve, natural or nature preserve, or nature conservation area) is a protected area of importance for flora, fauna, or features of geological or o ...

Skåne County Skåne County ( sv, Skåne län, link=no ), sometimes referred to as Scania County in English, is the most southern county, or , of Sweden, basically corresponding to the traditional province Scania. It borders the counties of Halland, Kronobe ...

, Sweden, and takes the form of a 1.6 meter tall pillar. The local authorities deemed the construction of Omfalos to be in violation of the regulations governing the natural reserve, and initiated a

legal process Legal process (sometimes simply process) is any formal notice or writ by a court obtaining jurisdiction over a person or property. Common forms of process include a summons, subpoena, mandate, and warrant. Process normally takes effect by ...

to have it destroyed or removed from the site. Lars Vilks denied being the creator of the work, but it was attributed to him over the course of the proceedings. In 2001, a

crane barge A crane vessel, crane ship or floating crane is a ship with a crane specialized in lifting heavy loads. The largest crane vessels are used for offshore construction. Conventional monohulls are used, but the largest crane vessels are often catama ...

transported the sculpture from the site, damaging it in the process. The then-current owner, the artist

Ernst Billgren Ernst Billgren (born 18 November 1957) is a Swedish artist and writer. Billgren was born in Stockholm and that is where he is currently based. He attended the Valand School of Fine Arts where he graduated in 1987. His daughter Elsa Billgre ...

, donated it to the

, a modern art museum in Stockholm, Sweden. Lars Vilks was granted the authorities' approval to erect an 8 cm

memorial A memorial is an object or place which serves as a focus for the memory or the commemoration of something, usually an influential, deceased person or a historical, tragic event. Popular forms of memorials include landmark objects or works of a ...

at the original site.

Relation to other works

had previously and without permission erected two other sculptures in the Kullaberg natural reserve - the

Nimis Nimis ( sl, Neme) is a town and ''comune'' in the province of Udine, Friuli, north-eastern Italy, near the border with Slovenia. It is located at the foot of Mount Bernadia, home to a World War I Italian fort and a sweet white wine called Raman ...

and the

Arx Arx, ARX, or ArX may refer to: *ARX (Algorithmic Research Ltd.), a digital security company *ARX (gene), Aristaless related homeobox *ARX (operating system), an operating system *ArX (revision control), revision control software *Arx (Roman), a Ro ...

, made from

driftwood __NOTOC__ Driftwood is wood that has been washed onto a shore or beach of a sea, lake, or river by the action of winds, tides or waves. In some waterfront areas, driftwood is a major nuisance. However, the driftwood provides shelter and fo ...

and rock respectively, in 1980. When they were discovered in 1982, the local authorities decided that they were in violation of building code laws. Despite the authorities' efforts to have Nimis and Arx removed as well as several instances of vandalism and fire, repaired versions of both sculptures were still standing 40 years after their construction. Lars Vilks considers the sculptures and the controversy surrounding them to be works of

conceptual art Conceptual art, also referred to as conceptualism, is art in which the concept(s) or idea(s) involved in the work take precedence over traditional aesthetic, technical, and material concerns. Some works of conceptual art, sometimes called insta ...

, with the legal proceedings comprising the most important part. The area, proclaimed by Vilks as the sovereign

micronation A micronation is a political entity whose members claim that they belong to an independent nation or sovereign state, but which lacks legal recognition by world governments or major international organizations. Micronations are classified se ...

of Ladonia, has become a tourist attraction with approximately 90,000 visitors annually.{{Cite web, date=2019-08-13, title=Kan bli förbjudet att bestiga Nimis, url=https://www.svt.se/kultur/kan-bli-forbjudet-att-bestiga-nimis, access-date=2020-09-16, website=SVT Nyheter, language=sv

References

Sculptures Swedish art Conceptual art Demolished buildings and structures in Sweden