Symposium Program

AR@K26: Reclaiming art! Creative expression as a building block in our social foundations 

DAY 1 – TUESDAY 14 APRIL

Plenary sessions

09:00 - 09:30: Coffee and registration

09:30–10:00: Symposium opening (mezzanine floor) by Rector Trine Johansen Meza and Pro-Dean Synne Tollerud Bull. Music performance by CLINOMANIA.

10:15–11:15: Keynote speaker Þorgerður Ólafsdóttir: Future Remains (room FAU-101) 

Parallel sessions #1 – 14 April 11:45–13:15

Lunch

13:15–14:15: Lunch (ground floor) 

Parallel sessions #2 – 14 April 14:15–15:45

Optional

 

Optional

16:15 - 17:30 Book launch / panel (room FAU - 308)

How can traditional academic research inform and support creative and performative practices?

Following the Innovation in Music 2024 conference, hosted by Kristiania University of Applied Sciences, all presenters were invited to submit chapters for publication – the results of this process are finally publicly available!

We invite all AR@K-delegates and other interested parties to celebrate the resulting two volumes in the Perspectives on Music Production-series by Routledge:

  • Innovation in Music: Current Research Perspectives
  • Innovation in Music: Innovative Creative Practice

(both books edited by Claus Sohn Andersen, Jan-Olof Gullö, Russ Hepworth-Sawyer, Mark Marrington, Justin Paterson, Rob Toulson) 

To mark the launch we have assembled a panel of authors from the books to discuss the topic outlined above, consisting of:

  • Yngvar Kjus, University of Oslo 
  • Åse Áva Fredheim, University of Agder
  • Jon Marius Aareskjold-Drecker, University of Oslo/The Arctic University of Norway
  • Moderator: Claus Sohn Andersen, Kristiania University of Applied Sciences, co-editor of the books 

Read more about the books and series here.

A Campfire Encounter was announced ealier. This is cancelled due to illness. You can follow the campfire project on instagram: @baalprosjektet

DAY 2  – WEDNESDAY 15 APRIL 2026

Plenary session

09:00–09:30: Coffee and registration

09:30–10:30: Keynote speaker Elena Sgarbossa: Soft (Moving) Skills: Acknowledging and Naming Soft Skills in Dance Practice (room FAU-101) 

Parallel sessions #3 – 15 April 10:45–12:15

Lunch

12:15–13:15: Lunch (ground floor) 

Parallel sessions #4 – 15 April 13:15–14:45

Parallel sessions #5 – 15 April 15:00–16:30

Plenary session/closing event

Visit to Þorgerður Ólafsdóttir’s exhibition Future Remains at Atelier Nord 

16:45: Meet up at reception on ground floor. Approx 20-minute walk. 

Keynote Speakers at AR@K26 

Þorgerður Ólafsdóttir

Future Remains

In my talk I will share stories from a few encounters while on field trips or walking in nature close to my home. Many of whom have shaped my practice, developed further in conversation with friends and colleagues and led to several artworks which I will also talk about. 

In my work I have been looking for ways to visualize the relationship between natural and cultural heritage, often through a process of heritagization. I am interested in the phases of transformation and the afterlives of things, when elements of nature become something else through intended acts or chance encounters. 

In my talk I will share stories from two places in particular who have influenced my practice in meaningful ways. The first place is the southernmost point of Iceland, Surtsey island (erupt. ‘63 –’67), one of the youngest islands on earth and a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The latter is a small beach that is partially a submerged peatbed and keeps the remains of a 6.000 year old birch forest that is only visible during a high tide. The beach, or more precisely a single branch from the old forest floor, plays a big part in my exhibition in Atelier Nord.  

Key words: wonder, extraction, transformations, afterlives of things 

BIO

Elena Sgarbossa

Soft (Moving) Skills: Acknowledging and Naming Soft Skills in Dance Practice 

The presentation offers a reflection on the relationship between dance and soft skills as transversal competences that permeate the way we engage in creative processes, relationships and our professional roles. Soft skills are patterns of thought, behaviour and communication: transversal and nourishing dimensions to be cultivated from both an individual and collective perspective.

Through attention to the body and reflective exercises, the conversation opens up a vast topic: dance practices often involve implicit and embodied knowledge that cannot always be immediately translated into words. This knowledge can offer valuable guidance not only for those working in the performing arts, but also for other professional and research fields where engagement with complexity, uncertainty, and difference as resources becomes central.

The format is designed as a threshold : an introductory moment that offers ideas and guidelines for further work. 

The session is informed by the research developed in the EU projects Empowering Dance 1 and 2. 

There will also be a three-hour workshop after the keynote presentation, in which physical and reflective practices will be explored in depth with a small group of participants. 

BIO