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The syposium is organized by the Department of Information Science and Media Studies, University of Bergen, in collaboration with Litteraturhuset Bergen, Kode, & Journal of Visual Culture.

It is the 15th Nomadikon Meeting.

A celebration of Øyvind Vågnes

At this symposium we honor and celebrate the life and work of Øyvind Vågnes.

Øyvind, who passed away in January 2025, was the friendliest and kindest of men, universally liked, equally brilliant as scholar, novelist, critic and editor, an inveterate aesthete, a true intellectual, and a beloved family man, friend and colleague with boundless enthusiasm, imagination, and empathy.

At the symposium we ask ourselves: How can we find words or images with which to express whatever it is that remains of an intellectual legacy? What might be transmitted, and what is intransmissible? How can profound loss and bereavement over time lead to new insights, new knowledge?

The symposium contains all kinds of contributions that address Øyvind’s work as a scholar, novelist, critic, and editor. We present written papers, improvised talks, personal reminiscence, tributes, poetry, stories and anecdotes. The talks are in English and Norwegian. 

We consider a future publication based on the symposium.

Program

Wednesday, March 18

Venue: Jussbygget, Auditorium 3, Magnus Lagabøtes Plass 1.

Welcome

12.30 Arrivals and Coffee
13.00 Words of Welcome & Opening Remarks from Synnøve Bendixsen (Dean), Bjørnar Tessem (Chair), Birgit Ekern, and Asbjørn Grønstad.

Session 1: Relational Aesthetics/Aesthetic Relations (13.30-15.10)
Chair: Henrik Gustafsson

13.30 Henrik Gustafsson: Introduction – Committed Spectatorship.
13.35 Max Liljefors: Art and Existential Resilience: Aesthetic Praxis across the “Defect of Distance.”
14.10 Frances Guerin: Snapshot Memories.
14.40 Jae Emerling: The Promise of Friendship (zoom).

Session 2: Which Echoes Belong (15.15-16.45)
Chair: Pauline Ann Hoath

15.15 Randi Koppen: Death and the Future of Writing.
15.45 Alexandre Dessingué: The Enduring Witness: Øyvind Vågnes’ Contributions to Contemporary Memory Culture.
16.15 Jakob Lothe: Memory and Narrative Ethics in Leni Riefenstahl’s Olympia (1938).

17.30 Reception at Kode, Permanenten, Nordahl Bruns gate 9 (Remember to register above)
Chair: Janne Stigen Drangsholt

Line Daatland (director Kode): Welcome.
Reading by Frode Grytten.
Photo collage and music by Kjersti Berg.

Line Daatland also gives us a short introduction to the Frits Thaulow exhibition and also takes us on a walking tour to see it. .

Thursday, March 19

Venue: Litteraturhuset, Olav H. Hauge, Østre Skostredet 5-7.

Session 3: Image/Music/Text (10.00-12.00)
Chair: Asbjørn Grønstad

10.00 Zoltan Varga: Water Imagery and Imaginaries: Beyond the Flood.
10.30 Michael Hinds: Where and When did you Mention Mississippi?
11.00 Gunnhild Øyehaug: Augneblinkar og transformasjonar.
11.30 Bjørn Olaf Johannessen: This is Music - conversations with Øyvind. 
12.00-13.00 Lunch.

Session 4: Liv og arbeid (13.00-15.00)
Chair: Mattis Øybø

13.00 Øystein Vidnes: Sekundet Etter.
13.30 Audun Lindholm: Mellom Dyptid og Erfaringens Tid.
14.00 Eivind Senneset: Den Brente Jords Estetikk.
14.30 Arthur Tennøe: Mellom Oss, Øyvind.
15.00 Leg stretch and coffee.

Session 5: Loss & Hope (15.15-16.45)
Chair: Henrik Gustafsson

15.15 Karl Knapskog: Nokre Ord om den Gode Mannen Øyvind Vågnes.
15.45 Astrid Gynnild: Loss and Infrared.
16.15 Nahum Welang: Three Poems: The Enduring Resonance of Loss and Hope.

Session 6: Ethics and Visual Culture (16.45-18.15)
Chair: Asbjørn Grønstad

16.45 Marquard Smith: Connection Broken.
17.15 Aurora Hoel: Phantom Views.
17.45 Michael Prince: Joe Sacco: Comics and New Journalism.

19.30 Dinner at Krysset, Kong Oscars gate 66 (Remember to register above)

Friday, March 20

Venue: Aulaen, Ulrike Pihls Hus, Professor Keysers gate 1.

Session 7: Øyvind’s Method (09.00-11.00)
Chair: Nina Lager Vestberg

09.00 Angelos Koutsourakis: Towards a Camaraderie Criticism.
09.30 Lene Johannessen: A Pedagogy of Care.
10.00 Lars Arve Røssland: Læring gjennom digging – eit springsteensk døme.
10.30 Janne Stigen Drangsholt: “That’s one magic loogie!” The Comedic Achievement of Øyvind Vågnes.
11.00-11.15 Coffee break.

Session 8: Writing the Image, Seeing the Text (11.15-13.15)
Chair: Tonje Haugland Sørensen

11.15 Anne Gjelsvik:  Words and Voices for the Screen: The Poetics of Words in Contemporary Screenwriting.
11.45 Minou Norouzi: Cinécriture and the Ethics of Seeing: From Agnès Varda to Songs From the Hole.
12.15 Anders Lysne: Imagining Loss and Connection.
12.45 Erlend Lavik: Television studies and aesthetics.

13.15-14.15: Lunch at Smauet Café, Nygårdsgaten 5 (Remember to register above)

Session 9: Kunst, Etikk og vennskap (14.15-16.15)
Chair: Synnøve Vik

14.15 Sandra Lillebø: Naboen min.
14.45 Guro Kleveland: “Du luktar øl.”
15.15 Teresa Grøtan: Raseri som Kreativ Kraft.
15.45 Mattis Øybø: ‘Det som har hendt her, hender alltid her:’ Forfatteren som idéhistoriker. Forfatteren som venn.

Closing Remarks (16.15)

Marquard Smith & Asbjørn Grønstad.