Art in the Land of War

What is the role of art when an entire country is fighting for its life? How is it even possible to create under the conditions of war? The common denominator, I think, is the strive for freedom.

To my understanding, freedom is one and indivisible – just like Spaceship Earth is one for all of us. To paraphrase Caribbean-American poet Audre Lorde: I am not free while any being is unfree.* In February 2022, when Russia’s prior war crime aggression and annexation turned into a full scale invasion of Ukrainian territory, it wasn’t only an eye-opener, but also a compelling urge to take action. How could I, as an artist, support the defenders of our freedom?

Staying in touch (since 2011) with Kyiv-based filmmaker Oleg Chorny, in combination with having a volunteer-run cinema just across the street, finally sparked the idea of organizing a film screening. When I contacted Stadsgårdsterminalen – one of Stockholm’s most creative spaces – the project kind of doubled… In the first months of 2023, I turned to Region Stockholm for funding; in June, my application was granted, and I could start organizing the two screening events. Independent production company DocNoteFilms gave me full access to their short film series Art in the Land of War – documentaries made in 2022-2023, following Ukrainian artists in their studios and workshops; in front of the screen or the loom; in the basement shelter or in the city streets… To pick a choice from the 25 movies wasn’t easy, but in the end ten were chosen to mirror the diversity of Ukrainian art and artists.

Local cinema Mölnbo Bio by night

Örjan from ‘Caps and Candles for Ukraine’

Painter Matvei Vaisberg, from the documentary by Oleg Chorny

Inna, outstanding singer of the band ‘Ukraina’

Painter Matvei Vaisberg, from the documentary by Oleg Chorny

Pelle the cinema technician

Introducing a movie

On September 23rd, the first screening event took place in rural village Mölnbo. Long-time local residents mingled with more recently settled Ukrainian refugees; home-made borsch and nalysnyky pancakes were served, artworks by Angela Ursol were on display and the band named Ukraina played. Örjan – representing local volunteer organization Caps and Candles for Ukraine – told us about his recent journey to Eastern Ukraine, where much-needed supplies reached its destinations. And the documentaries took us all along to Mariupol, Kyiv, Chernihiv, Muzychi, Poltava, Charkiv… to a number of artists at work – very diverse in personalities, age, genres and techniques, each one finding their own way in modalities of resistance.

During the following weeks, the next event was announced on walls in central Stockholm as well as online. Another batch of soup and nalysnyky were prepared, all details of the program were finally set, and planning proceeded with the super-helpful staff at Stadsgårdsterminalen. On Saturday, October 7th, volunteers and artists gathered in the morning to arrange everything… Visual artists Liubov Babichenko and Anastasiia Usenko contributed with their artworks, Tomas the technician got everything in order – and by noon, people began to drop in as the soundcheck of domra player Olga Kovalenko smoothly turned into a little concert.

‘Rex Tremendae Majestatis’ by Liubov Babichenko

The volunteer-run café attracted visitors

‘Les trois soeurs’ by Liubov Babichenko

Olga Kovalenko presenting her music

A glimpse of Anastasiia Usenko’s drawings

The screening program opened with two films that were made before 2022, and therefore weren’t part of the Art in the Land of War series: first, Derevo / The Tree – a portrait of a woodcarver, originally created by amateur filmmaker Victor Kyzyma in the 1970s. The faded and damaged remains of Kyzyma’s film were rediscovered in 2017, and brought back to life by contemporary filmmakers Oleg Chorny and Gennadiy Khmaruk; a dreamlike memory, reimagined. Next, Proekt Doschu/Rain Project took us to the city of Mariupol in 2016, to follow the work of street artist Gamlet Zinkivskyi – also known as ‘Ukraine’s Banksy’.

Still from ‘Derevo’ (2019)

Still from ‘Proekt Doschu’ (2016)

The program proceeded with the recent DocNoteFilms/Babylon’13 documentaries, shown two by two with a 30 minutes pause inbetween screenings. There were talks by artist Liubov Babichenko, and by Max Valentin – founder and producer at Fabel Kommunikation – who gave us insights from the Ukrainian cultural sector (especially, the changing role of public libraries). We also succeeded to make contact with director Hanna Iarosevych over link from Kyiv; a valuable exchange, as the audience could pose their questions directly to the filmmaker, who emphasized the blooming of contemporary Ukrainian cinema as a part of civil society.

Max Valentin on what to learn from Ukrainian civil society

Hanna Iarosevych live on screen

View from the backstage hangout

Our final treat was a work by Liubov Babichenko, produced especially for this event and with music by composer Roman Gens; archive documentary PAST SIMPLE – once more connecting with the past, speaking wordlessly about life in peace… projecting hope for the future.

Below, screenshots of some of the artists seen in the documentaries:

Street artist Gamlet Zinkivskyi

Conceptual artist Alevtina Kakidze

Conceptual artist Taras Polataiko

Artist and activist Oleksiy Sai

Anonymous art student

Nina Savenko, printmaker at print workshop Lithography30

Composer Alexander Shchetynsky with colleague at the Kharkiv National Kotlyarevsky University of Arts

Tapestry weaver Olha Pilyuhina

Sculptor Svitlana Karunska

*original quote by Audre Lorde: “I am not free while any woman is unfree.”

Praxis of Social Imaginaries, Summer session 2023 (Palanga)

art, recent work, time-out, upcoming

End of July, and a group of scholars and artists meet up to continue the journey that begun in March: studying the Praxis of Social Imaginaries. Observing our own times through the lens of mediaeval travel accounts, this transdisciplinary research project is now turning to William of Rubruck and Marco Polo – both speaking to us from the 13th century.

“The journey of William of Rubruck to the eastern parts of the world”

Marco Polo, “The Travels”

Summer session readings: the travels of friar William of Rubruck (photo credit Laura Hellsten) and Marco Polo’s Book of the Marvels of the World

A diverse bunch of people we are, actually representing all continents except Oceania; diverse also in age and cultural background, not to mention other kinds of situatedness… Reading under the pine trees in Palanga Botanical Garden brings out knowledge and memories from Sápmi and the Amazonas. Listening to voices from the 13th century brings out concern for the silence(d) in history. The ‘brave space’ of genuine dialogue brings out deep emotions of grief, joy and care… as well as the interchange of intellectual perspectives.

The Praxis project will continue for another two years – partly within the alternating Winter and Summer sessions of the Nordic Summer University, and partly in parallel side projects; next gathering planned in November, at Sigtunastiftelsen north of Stockholm. I’ll have some mapping work to do before that… For now, I wish to cherish the creative flow that emerged from sitting beside Ilona Blumgrund, and our thinking together swiftly and wordlessly.

With great gratitude to Ilona, Adriana, Jackie, Louie, Emilia, Roberto, Tinka, Eduardo, Dorcus – and, of course, co-facilitators Lindsey Drury and Laura Hellsten – à la prochaine!

Mapping on the beach; how to realize common values in colonizing the future

About the Nordic Summer University
This particular study circle is but one out of a dozen, which together constitute the Nordic Summer University. From July 27th to August 3rd, the NSU Summer session 2023 was held in Palanga, Lithuania. Keynote speakers Ekaterina Kouznetsova, Amanda Valentin and Epp Annus all focused on different aspects of democracy in our time; academic freedom in an authoritarian society, election monitoring, and Russia’s colonial engagements and imaginaries of supremacy. In daytime, study circles worked independently (and sometimes joined). In the evenings, cultural programs were offered – such as music, workshops and multilingual readings (a practice introduced by Lara Hoffman last summer)… Together with Alina Kalachova, I conducted a mapping event which made us think, as well as cry and smile. A valuable experience.

Keynote speaker Epp Annus presenting a poem by late writer Victoria Amelina (killed in Russian strike on Kramatorsk, July 1st); and a joint reading of short stories on the beach

About Palanga and Hotel Vysuris
The venue and the city itself deserve some attention, too. Hotel Vysuris, built under the Soviet regime, stays almost unaltered since the 1970’s; history alive in many aspects, also in the struggle of the kitchen staff to navigate between different instances of need and want. The long applause they got at the final gala dinner was well earned.

(above) Vysuris restaurant and the last evening’s gala dinner
(below) Some features of the labyrinthic, circular building

And finally, some touristic views from walking in Palanga – and a treasured gift (thank you so much, Dorcus!):

Praxis of Social Imaginaries, Winter session 2023 (Oslo)

art, recent work, time-out, upcoming

Last month’s notes from the conference in Åbo/Turku briefly mentioned a new research project launched by Laura Hellsten. Here’s a little more on that…

Laura’s scientific approach is shaped by her dual competence as a dancer and a Doctor in Systematic Theology. While she holds a position at Åbo Akademi University, part of her current research will be conducted within the framework of the Nordic Summer University (aka the NSU). Actually, this project has already begun; in early March 2023, the first gathering of NSU Circle 3 Praxis of Social Imaginaries; Cosmologies, Othering and Liminality took place in Oslo. Lindsey Drury – post-doc and co-facilitator of this study circle – is an early modernist historian, and an educated dancer as well. Their common work evolves around mediaeval accounts from travels into ‘unknown lands’; aiming at transdisciplinarity, the methodology incorporates reading aloud, various modalities of movement, academic lectures and discussions, and…

The Hereford Mappa Mundi – a mediaeval world map,
conceived in the very place where Gerald of Wales spent the last part of his life (although nearly a century later) –
presented in a keynote lecture by historian Line Cecilie Engh; picture made available by Wikimedia Commons

…and more? Future will tell.

In this first Praxis session, a number of scholars and artists from different fields and places processed the tales of Gerald of Wales: a monk travelling uncivilized Ireland by the end of the 12th century – reporting back to his learned colleagues and to the English king; picturing Éire and the Irish through a lens of curiosity, religious zeal and practical political thinking.

Here’s my own recap from our five of days walking, talking, listening, disputing and dancing in wintery Oslo:

Domus Theologica (University of Oslo) hosted the event

Streets of Oslo – a signpost pointing the way to a bomb shelter;
Saint Olav guarding sewages and waters underground; icy footway; a cool cat by night

Saint Olaf, king of Norway, accompanies us, as we walk the streets – occasionally trodding along his old pilgrimage path, leading all the way from here to Olaf’s grave in Nidaros (Trondhjem). In his youth, Olaf sailed the Baltic and the North Sea as a fierce warrior, before being baptized and returning to Norway as a Christian king. His image, cast in iron, can be seen on every lid covering the descents to the city’s system of underground sewage pipes. The waters that have cleaned our bodies – or passed through them – is kept from sight and smell in those sewers. Meanwhile, Aker river running through the city, once heavily polluted, is now restored to be the ‘green lung’ of the urban area…

How can one atone for the wrongdoings of history? As we walk and talk, I think this may be the beginning of a pilgrimage.

Limestone wall of Old Aker Church – the oldest existing building in Oslo,
erected by the mediaeval pilgrim route

For the closing summary, I did an ad hoc mapping on a classroom blackboard – picturing our experiences as a group: reading Gerald’s tales, listening to Viveca Servatius’ lecture on Hildegard of Bingen, seeing lovers in a churchyard, meeting dogs friendly and angry, slipping and sliding in a park, dancing between graves… Other participants helped me fill in the empty spots.

Slipping along an icy slope

Proceed with care!

Reading aloud in groups in Old Aker churchyard

Noted by participant: many fathers walk their kids in Oslo

Noted by participant: many people walk their dogs in Oslo

Noted by participant: I got locked in inside seminar building for some time

Dancing in a graveyard, and lecture on Hildegard of Bingen’s musicology

Oslo architecture, and seminar group seated around a table

Loving couple under a tree in churchyard

Next gathering will take place in Palanga, Lithuania, when July turns August. See you there!

Åbo/Turku: Sites of Learning

art, recent work, time-out

Leaving Stockholm on Sunday evening, May 14th, sleeping across the Baltic sea and waking up early Monday morning to sunrise over Åbo/Turku… In 2010 and 2011 I made this trip quite a few times, when engaged in the Nomadic University project at Åbo Akademi. Now I’m back to take part in a conference hosted by the Donner Institute and the University of Helsinki: Religion and Spirituality as Sites of Learning.

Nice to trod the streets of Åbo once more…

..and nice to be back in the facilities of Åbo Akademi University. Niklas the caretaker helps me to arrange a poster exhibition that I’ve brought for the occasion. Soon, conference guests begin to arrive and register. Then: coffee time, and next the welcome introduction by Ruth Illman, research director of the Donner Institute, and professor Terhi Utriainen from the University of Helsinki – followed by a keynote speech on Unlearning by professor Kim Knott of Lancaster University; a productive opening to three days dedicated to learning.

Entrance hall at Arken, Åbo Akademi University

Ruth Illman and Terhu Utriainen opening the conference

The conference proceeds with three parallel sets of lectures throughout the day. Among the presentations I manage to attend is Jaana Kouri‘s research on Learning in contemporary shamanism (carried out congruently with her own shamanist practice); among the ones I’m sorry to miss out on are Miriam Feldmann Kaye‘s Learning as Idea: ‘Hospitality’ from a Philosophical Perspective and Emine Neval’s Where are the Women?.. This first day is wrapped up with a reassembly and panel discussion on Eastern Spirituality in Arts. Panelists Nina Kokkinen, Måns Broo, Linda Annunen and Ville Husgafvel open for a highly interesting and well-grounded discussion along the themes of Inspiration, Appropriation, Conversation… upon which follows a get-together reception and the awarding of Donner Institute Research Prize 2022 to Maija Butters for her book Death and Dying Mediated by Medicine, Rituals, and Aesthetics.

Leaving the gusto of seventy researchers gathering ‘in real life’ for the first time since covid 19, to enter the calm atmosphere within the Bridgettine sisters’ guesthouse… where a modest room is waiting for me, and the singing of psalms accompany Tuesday’s breakfast.

Morning choir at the Bridgettine Convert’s guesthouse

The second day of conference begins with researchers from the University of Helsinki sharing conclusions from their project Learning From New Religion and Spirituality. In addition to informal talks and tasty lunch (the menu is all vegetarian), I enjoy and learn from Lena Roos and Laura Wickström lecturing on, respectively, The Green Sabbath Project and Learning about the Environment Within Islamic Tradition – just to mention two out of many appealing themes.

Researchers from the LeNeRe project

Laura Wickström on environment in Islamic tradition

Lena Roos presenting her research on the Green Sabbath project

The third and final day starts directly with the sets of parallel sessions; in Auditorium Källan – the Well – we delight in multi-skilled university lecturer Mikko Autere reciting Sufi poetry in Urdu (or was it Hindi?) and introducing us to South Asian practices of aesthetic and mystical cognition; his talk followed by doctoral student Olivia Cejvan, reporting about secrecy as a didactic tool in a Swedish esoteric society. I feel very favoured to be the third one to present in this sequence – even more so, being the one non-academic person to attend the conference. My talk takes place by the entrance, in front of the poster exhibition; retelling the story of Interfaith Dialogue in Images (a workshop in two parts, which I conducted in the autumn of 2019), presenting the concept of Pictorial Reasoning and inviting feedback from a researcher’s perspective. Again, I’m privileged to get insightful comments and questions from such an extremely qualified audience. Two of them to appear on stage a little later…

Nataliia Pavlyk captured me talking

‘translating’; professor Mulki al-Sharmani

‘In search of…’; professor Mulki al-Sharmani

After the coffee break, with continued discussions, it’s time for professor Mulki al-Sharmani to hold her keynote speech on Women Living with, Learning from, and Reasoning with the Qur’an – sharing experiences from long-time engagement with a number of Muslim women. Some of her informants belong to the islamic minority in Finland, others to the majority in Egypt; some are fairly well-off, others underprivileged; each one of them possessing deep resources of judgement and agency.

Next out, in the closing set of parallel sessions, is Laura Hellsten, dancer and doctor in systematic theology. The subject of her lecture is Dance as a Spiritual Formation Practice… partly treated in connection to her project The Praxis of Social Imaginaries; Cosmologies, Othering and Liminality, which has recently been launched in collaboration with Lindsey Drury (PhD at Freie Universität Berlin/ University of Kent). I’ve already had the pleasure to take part of Laura’s and Lindsey’s work within the framework of the Nordic Summer University. More to follow there…

‘…through our whole body…’; Laura Hellsten

Laura Hellsten (2)

Laura Hellsten (3)

‘… Letting desire lead to deeper levels…’; Laura Hellsten

And so: time for some closing words, and one more cup of coffee before we leave. The walk along the Aura river, on my way to the ferry , brings me close to the Wäinö Aaltonen Museum of Art, where a rich retrospective of Jan Kenneth Weckman’s painting is on view. I cannot just pass by, of course; after three days of intense listening, I need to wash my eyes in colour to see again. Need to pay respect to Jan Kenneth’s corpus; to art as materialized thinking.

Jan Kenneth Weckman at WAM (1)

Jan Kenneth Weckman at WAM (2)

Jan Kenneth Weckman: still from video interview

Jan Kenneth Weckman: Mother of God (2016); oil on canvas

What, then, have I gathered from these sites of learning in Åbo/Turku?

…from Jan Kenneth: to focus on painting, not on the picture.

…from the sisters’ guesthouse, a kaleidoscope of fragmental memories: a digital key handed over at night hour; clean surfaces, plain clothing, sparse colours; morning oats, singing voices converging in the unison. Austerity and care. Time stripped bare of signs of change.

…from the conference: the Q’s and A’s. Observations of the living world, transformed to words aligned according to the rules of logic. A poem in urdu (or was it hindi?) ungraspable by logic. Delight in meeting, delight in sharing. A beautiful sign on the restroom doors.

Musical Quarter Interlude: Art and Spirit

art, curating, painting, recent work, time-out

“Art and Spirit – like a twelve-tone scale, the works of eleven artists sound in the Musical Quarter. The exhibition takes place on all floors within the building – in the doorway, the entrance hall and stairwells, in the foyers and the concert spaces.”

A one-day-only exhibition at Stockholm’s Musical Quarter, curated by Tobias Sjöberg – up and running from noon at Saturday, March 11th, into the wee hours of the night when the last guests are leaving the party.

Tobias Sjöberg at work; photo HHW.

ART AND SPIRIT
participating artists:

Amanda Cardell

Beata Fransson

Helena Hildur W.

Jakob Sjöstedt

Jouko Mario

Margrethe Sjöberg

Mats Adelman

Stefan

Tiago Altink

Tobias Sjöberg

Viktor Kopp

– – –

Friday, March 10th: gathering together to hang the artworks. A colourful curtain – made for the occasion by Amanda Cardell – will greet every guest at the main entrance. In the Clara Schumann hall, works by Viktor Kopp and myself have found their place, waiting quietly for tomorrow’s artsy sounds, klezmer swing and late night disco. Manager Andil Dahl always seems to be in the right place to make everything run smoothly.
(below)

Amanda Cardell: “Entering” (behind the entrance doors); a drapery of ribbons

Viktor Kopp: “Door and line”; oil on canvas 160 x 170cms

Andil and Johan discussing lighting matters

HHW: three diary paintings; oil on wood panel

HHW: four monthly pictures; blood, ashes and chinese ink on silk

(above)
Hanging completed in the Clara Schumann hall; on display from my part are three diary paintings (oil on wood panel) and four monthly pictures (blood, ashes and chinese ink on silk).

In the first floor foyer, painted wood sculptures by Tiago Altink are put on display. At the second floor, Jakob Sjöstedt’s sculptural sounding objects interplay with scenic elements of the locale. Missing on photo are Margrethe Sjöberg’s embroidered birds of fantasy, and Jouko Mario’s enigmatic paintings opening up to views of strange streets and buildings.
(below)

Installing sculptures by Tiago Altink

Tiago Altink: painted wood sculpture

Jakob Sjöstedt: “Signal”/”Untitled”; loudspeaker elements, sand, sound / reeds, deer skull, copper plate, parts of a torn-down kitchen

In the stairwells, Mats Adelman builds exquisite cabinets where the night fly finds rest and the barn owl can be seen flying… The old and the new meet in the third floor foyer, where Beata Fransson’s playful photographic sculpture echoes the brick wall of a building across the street.

Halfway down another staircase, Stefan’s self portrait is a world in itself; I’m humbled and grateful to have my cloud drawing placed next to it.

Missing here are Tobias Sjöberg’s Octave – watercolour paintings covering two huge windows, creating a quiet virtual space opening to pure colour; turning the room into a floating vessel, carrying living people and pale plaster muses along outside of time …
(below)

Mats Adelman: “Subforest”; installation with sculpture and drawings

view from the third floor foyer

Beata Fransson: “Corner”; black and white print on woodprin

HHW: cloud drawing; graphite on paper

Stefan: untitled; watercolour and pencil on paper

Saturday, March 11th: giving the installations a last finish; then removing tools and ladders, doing a bit of cleaning up; and, the Art and Spirit exhibition is up by noon. At four o’clock, the Swedish Wind Ensemble gathers for a sounding parade around the neighbourhood. When they return, guests are already queuing to get inside. Scendödsfestival sets off – let the party begin!

Brenda El Rayes, Breathing Slowly… (1/4)

Brenda El Rayes, Breathing Slowly… (2/4)

Brenda El Rayes, Breathing Slowly… (4/4)

Brenda El Rayes, Breathing Slowly… (3/4)

Teodor Wolgers & Friends (1/2)

Teodor Wolgers & Friends (2/2)

Musical Quarter Interlude

art, time-out, upcoming

Time to move on – from the digital dirtroad experience to an exquisite 19th century building by the waterfront of central Stockholm: the very first concert hall built in Sweden, patroned by the Royal Swedish Academy of Music. Today, the Musical Quarter is multi-functional venue hosting a variety of genres: from folk & world music (permanently housed in the old backyard horse stable) to early music, opera, jazz, philharmonic and purely experimental… in creative process, as well as in public performances and festivals.

Right now, the prospect of having rents increased by more than 55% threatens the whole initiative. The managing team then decided to mobilize all friends and good powers in Scendödsfestival – a full night’s total music and art experience, with free access for the public – happening on Saturday, March 11th.

I’m very happy to be counted among those friends; last week, I joined a group of visual artists – invited by our much esteemed colleague Tobias Sjöberg – to check out the site. What a marvelous place…

…and what a kind, professional and receptive bunch of people to work with. Many of us had never met before – I’m eager to see what we’ll come up with together!

More to follow…

Bronze horse close to the Musical Quarter,
casted from a copy of the famous Byzantine horse sculptures in Venice;
an installation by Swedish sculptor Sivert Lindblom (1989)

Gallery Opening @Digital Dirt Road

recent work, time-out

For three weeks, the annual members’ exhibition of local artists’ association ARTiE has been on display within the city hall of Eslöv (Skåne county, in the south of Sweden). That exhibition closes today (Monday, January 30th) only to re-open in a digital version at the notable Digital Dirt Road Gallery – a ‘somewhat square and grumpy’ corner of the internet, according to the gallerist himself:

foaje
This virtual gallery is part of ARTiE’s longtime struggle for improving the cultural benefits of Eslöv municipality citizens. Supporting the initiative, I’m delighted to once more be invited to the party:

ARTiE Opening @’Digital Dirt Road’ Gallery
Opening on Monday, Jan 30th, at 5.30pm GMT+1
– open until March 31st, 2023
Welcome!

final notes from the Nordic Summer University 2022

time-out

From the grounds and the chapel of Rønningen folkehøgskole
(August 2022)

This journey was finished already two months ago; I found the photos when preparing for the next one. A journey to unchartered places – announcements will be made in due time…

In good company with Laura Hellsten

Notes from the Nordic Summer University II

art, curating, recent work, time-out

During the week-long NSU session, I got engaged in a couple of ‘ad hoc’ projects (in addition to my presentation within Circle 7, which was the ticket to my participation here). The first one happened in the context of a cultural evening.* Together with a number of courageous persons, I staged an updated performance of a multilingual poetry reading first realized in August 2014.**

2014 poster – for full story, see Training the Fundamentals of a Democratic Society

The original project sprung from a poem by Ukrainian author Tanya-Mariya Litvinyuk. In this re-staging, Ms. Litvinyuk is actually present through a sound recording sent from Kyiv the day before; her voice is heard from the laptop at the beginning. Then follows an English translation, read by Dr. Lucy Lyons, after which the English reading proceeds with ten words (all singled out from Ms. Litvinyuk’s poem). Back in 2014, those ten words sparked a collective writing process in a group of civil rights activists, and the poetic result of their joined efforts was translated from English into all languages spoken within the group. Here, I’m reading the Swedish version – followed by a fresh translation into Belarusian by NSU participant Alina Kalachova, created for this occasion. Crucial contributions (although not visible on screen) were also made by Maru Mushtrieva.

photo credit: Alina Kalachova

photo credit: Ami Skånberg Dahlstedt

The multilingual reading evening engaged about 35 attendants, and took place in the school’s chapel.

My second ‘ad hoc’ engagement was in Disa Kamula’s workshop on Co-writing the future, where my contribution was the real-time mapping of an unfolding utopian narrative… From the resulting vision of a bright future, I finally erased all details but three:
…people of all ages…
…essential work… (cleaning up, that is)
…future generations in focus…

Slow walking with an old mother walking with walker

The unknown cleaner with their cleaning trolley

Focusing on the young’uns

Mapping ‘Visionary Tampere Region’ workshop; resulting World Map,
and workshop leader Disa Kamula collecting workshop material afterwards.

What did I gather from this week? Art is knowledge, and artistic research is here to stay. Democratic structures are essential, although never perfect. Disco dancing is fun – thanks, Ami Skånberg Dahlstedt!
And the map is never complete.

—

* The NSU multilingual poetry evening was organized by Lara Hoffman, PhD student at Háskólanum á Akureyri, Iceland; she is also the editor of Ós – The Journal, a magazine which features works of fiction, poetry, creative non-fiction, and artworks in multiple languages.

** The 2014 Evening of Modern Ukrainian Poetry was organized by Yulia Oleksandriv and Julia Shevchenko, in collaboration with Stockholm International Library.

Notes from the Nordic Summer University I

art, recent work, time-out

As July turned August, my Latvian Easter experience brought me further, to Oslo; from an intimate three days’ winter session, to one full week of intense exchange in a much larger group of practitioners and academics within the Nordic Summer University.

It took two different trains, a replacement bus, and finally the ‘trikk’ (Norwegian for ‘tram’) to reach Rønningen folkehøgskole at the outskirts of Oslo.

The NSU is an independent academic institution, since 1950 nomadically alternating between venues in the Nordic and Baltic countries. Among its founders and early pioneers were Johan Galtung – principal founder of the discipline of peace and conflict studies – and Nobel prize laureate physicist Niels Bohr. Already in its beginnings, the NSU manifested the idea of interdisciplinarity; and to this day, it has remained open and playful, yet academically stringent; and (not least) with an interestingly democratic organization, free from carrying much administrative weight.

Glimpses from Rønningen folkehøgskole, run by the YWCA/YMCA of Norway

At this NSU Summer session, ten ongoing study circles gathered around themes such as Urban Studies: Between Creativity and Power; Nordic Environmental Ethics; Decolonizing Social Work... and The experiential in artistic practice and research: methods, knowledges and reflective processes – Circle 7, that is, where I took part. (The eleventh circle is the famous Children’s circle, where participants’ kids gather to have a good time too, and sometimes to contribute to the evening programme.)

photo credit: Ami Skånberg Dahlstedt

Random moments from a week with Circle 7

There was a full schedule almost every day of the week: for each circle, three lectures/workshops daily, followed by a common cultural evening programme, or the gathering of NSU’s General Assembly (where decisions were taken on next year’s activities and new board members and other in-charge functions were elected). In between, we could benefit from taking a walk in the surrounding areas, take a fresh swim in the river Aker… and for one day off, make excursions in the city.