Actually, the Dead are Not Dead

The 2019 edition of Bergen Assembly, titled Actually, the Dead Are Not Dead, encompassed an exhibition and a series of events taking place at various venues in Bergen. At the centre of the project is a preoccupation with life – with an understanding of life beyond the binary of life and death, human and non-human, subject and object, abled and disabled, past and future.

Actually, the Dead Are Not Dead examined how to redefine our alliances with those who are not presently living. The project proposed communicating with the spectres of the past and the future and taking responsibility for those who are no longer, or not yet, here. It questioned the prevalent politics of death, ranging from the deadly rejection of refugees to the destruction of the planet. Actually, the Dead Are Not Dead revolved around the reclamation of life, fathoming the potential of artistic practices to imagine life differently.

This edition of Bergen Assembly was conceived by a group of twelve curators, artists, theorists, and activists. This core group developed the programme in the form of individual, shared, and overlapping projects to which it invited additional artists, curators and contributors from other fields. The program consisted of four different platforms: the exhibition, The Parliament of Bodies, Belgin, and the education and mediation programme.

The exhibition platform of Actually, the Dead Are Not Dead was arranged by the core group and conveners and took place at seven different locations and public spaces in Bergen including Bergen Kunsthall, Kode 1 Permanenten, Entrée, Hordaland kunstsenter, Bergen Kjøtt, and the local bar and café Folk og Røvere.

The Parliament of Bodies, conceived by Paul B. Preciado and Viktor Neumann originally for the Public Programme of documenta 14, was a performative gathering described by Preciado as “a calling disenfranchised bodies and subaltern organs to gather in joyful assemblies”. For Bergen Assembly this took place as the Parliament of Bitches in June 2019, and The Impossible Parliaments during the opening days of the exhibition.

Belgin was an open space for exchange and gathering, as well as work, developing its infrastructures, programmes, and character successively and in dialogue with international guests and local communities. It not only functioned as Bergen Assembly’s office, information point, home for mediation and programmed events, but it was also open for the activities and gatherings of local groups and initiatives.

The space’s name refers to the Turkish singer Belgin Sarılmışer (1958–1989), who adopted the alias Bergen after the Norwegian harbour city.

The mediation program, conceived of and organised by Daniela Ramos Arias and Stacy Brafield, focused on utilising the triennial as a site for exchange, offering the opportunity to share experiences and knowledges, seeking positions that are unforeseen and remain open to the unexpected. It consisted of five modules: The School of Questions, Thursday and Saturday Walks, Map Making, Imagined Futures and Bergen Assembly Mediates Bergen.

        Read more at the edition’s archived website. 

2019 Website →

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Running time:
1.8.— 27.10.2013

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Convenors

Hans D. Christ
Iris Dressler

In Collaboration With

Murat Deha Boduroğlu
Banu Cennetoğlu
María García
Hiwa K
Katia Krupennikova
Viktor Neumann
Paul B. Preciado
Pedro G. Romero
Simon Sheikh
Emma Wolukau-Wanambwa

Contributors

Aérea Negrot, Daniel G. Andúja, Andreas Angelidakis, Betty Apple, Gerd Arntz, August Sander, Franz Wilhelm Seiwert, John Barker, Pepín Bello, Luis Buñuel, Salvador Dalí, Federico García Lorca, Lene Berg, Synnøve Bendixsen, Bergen (Belgin Sarilmişer), Anne de Boer, Eloïse Bonneviot, Nathalie Boseul Shin, Stacy Brafield, Anine Bråten, Sarah Browne, Lorenza Böttner, Lisa Bufan, Simnikiwe Buhlungu, Malebona Maphutse (Former Title in Transgression Members) feat. The Community, Serafín Estébanez Calderón, Francisco Lameyer, Antonio Centeno, Capital Drawing Group, Juliana Cerqueira Leite / Zoë Claire Miller, Banu Cennetoğlu, Yacoubi Cissé, Chto Delat, Pauline Curnier Jardin, Anna Dasović, Nikita Dhawan, Laressa Dickey
Sarah Diehl, Ines Doujak, Eva Egermann, Toto Estirado, Gonzalo García Pelayo, Ruth Ewan, Valérie Favre, Feminist Health Care Research Group (Julia Bonn and Inga Zimprich), Flo6x8, Magdalena Freudenschuss, Robert Gabris, María Galindo, Israel Galván, Joscelyn Gardner, Tony Gatlif, Ali Gharavi, Sonsherée Gile, Niklas Goldbach, Helios Gómez, Francisco de Goy, Kari Hagatun, Jack Halberstam, Jan Peter Hammer, Ama Hanssen, Nora Heidorn, Caspar Heinemann, Minna Henriksson, Siri Hermansen, Laure M. Hiendl, Max Jorge Hinderer Cruz, Hiwa K, Lottie Hoare, Anette Hoffmann, Iillas Holmberg, Jenni Laiti, Outi Pieski, Iris Johansso, Julio Jara, Jemina Lindholm, Georgy Mamedov, Nelli Kambouri, Theodore (Ted) Kerr, Kirara, Alexander Kluge, Göksu Kunak a.k.a Gucci Chunk, Teresa Lanceta, Nora Landkammer, Darcy Lange, Maria Snijders, Burkhard Liebsch, Yunyop Lee, M. Lamar, Ewa Majewska, Daniel Mariblanca, Jota Mombaça, Multitati (Tatiana Palanca), Narcissister, Viktor Neumann, Suntag Noh, Anders Næss, Mari Norbakk, Boris Ondreička, Ocaña y sus muchachas flamencas, Elin Már Øyen Vister, Pedagogías Invisibles, Tomás de Perrate, Perou, Sébastien Thiéry, Paula Pin, Biotranslab, Iffit Qureshi, Carlos González Ragel (Rajel), Daniela Ramos Aria, Charles Roka, Situationist International, Raisa “Raya” Bielenberg and Tore Jarl-Bielenberg, Gypsy Legacy, Liz Rosenfeld, Saih (Studentenes og Akademikernes Internasjonale Hjelpefond), Īlhan Sayin, Karin Schneider, Sem/en (Valeriano Bécquer and Gustavo Adolfo Bécquer), Daniel Seymour, Ørjan Skaga, Åsa Sonjasdotter, Peter Steudtner, Imogen Stidworthy, Ceija Stojka, Nina Støttrup Larsen, Stalker, Osservatorio Nomade, Fabrizio Boni, Giorgio de Finis, Cathrine Talleraas, Valentine Tanz, Vala T. Foltyn, Sunaura Taylor, Teatro Gitano, Andaluz of Mario Maya, Texstgrou, The Creators of Oi! (Arsiema Z. Medhanie, Ayan Mohamed Moalim Abdulle, Cynthia Njoki Kangethe, Emma Wolukau-Wanambwa, Gift H. Solhaug, Hamisi Adam Moshi, Hinda Sheikh Ibrahim Farah, Malebona Maphutse, Mamadee King Kabba, Naomi Niyo Bazira, Omar Farah, Sheila Feruzi Kassim, Shelmith Mwenesi Øseth, Simnikiwe Buhlungu, Sufian Mulumba), The Mycological Twist, Anders Totland, Margarita Tsomou, Mariana Valencia, Jeremy Wade, Rosario Weiss, Mariann Kvarme, Monica Valenciano, Sunniva Vik, Emma Wolukau-Wanambwa, Workers’ Families Seeking Justice (WFSJ) and its Support Group

Bergen Assembly 2019 Team

Ingrid Haug Erstad
Interim Director

Anne Szefer Karlsen
Senior Advisor

Tor Steffen Espedal
Project Coordinator

Sunniva Vik
Administrative Coordinator

Anna Neerland Haukeland
Volunteer Coordinator

Ingrid Engesæter Røen
Event Coordinator

Henriette Sölter
Head of Communications

Emilio Sanhueza
Communications Coordinator

Christa Mako Teigen
Instagram

Daniela Ramos Arias
Head of Education and Mediation

Stacy Brafield
Education and Mediation

Education and Mediation in Collaboration With Pedagogías Invisibles
 
Eleni Michaelidi
Associate Editor 

Kirsten Wandschneider
Head of Production

Sara Kollstrøm Heilevang
Production Coordinator

Kristen Keegan
Technical Coordinator

Tolga Balci
Technical Coordinator Sound and Light

Hort
Anne Büttner and Tim Schmit
Design

Leon Reindl
Website

Volunteers

Alina Anderson, Alexandra Vargas, Aina Andreassen, Birgitte Norsen, Cecilie Lind Hånes, Christa Mako, Ege Sobel, Éleonore Griveau, Embla Sunde Myrva, Emilie Wright, Enara Barnés, Eve Hereda, Fergus Tibbs, Fernanda Chieco, Freya Coursey, Geyanyu Zhang, Helene Myksvoll, Ida Petersen, Ingrid Skåland Eriksen, Inish Næss, Jennifer D’Amore, Kaeto Sweeney, Kayan Lee, Kristina Kozlova, Lill Maria R. Hansen, Linda Marie Vestgaard, Magnus Håland Sunde, Mahsa Khabiri, Maria Vallevik Borg, Maria Irgens Blakstad, Maria Helena Nerhus, Monica Vikjord, Nayara Leite, Neann Mathai, Oda Bremnes, Oscar Mortensen, Patricia Navarro, Pål Misje, Roos Wever, Roxana Ursu, Sandra Blichert, Tone Anderson, Unn Devik, Viktorija Prunskute, Wiktoria Gazda, Zeregaber Bereketab, and Ådne Dyrnesli.

Technical Team

Sasha Azanova, Torleif Bay, Lasse Bo, Robert Carter, Freya Coursey, Robin Everett, Amanda Frøslev Koch Nielsen, Laura Gaiger, Eleonore Griveau, Thea Haug, Erik Hjorth, Axel Högberg, Audrey Hurd, Even Kjelby, Lucila Mayol Pohl, Alex Millar, Anthony Morten, Bjørn Mortensen, David Rios, Pedro Jaime Riva, Daisuke Sato, Ingrid Skåland Eriksen, Tord Øyen, Fergus Tibbs, Kristoffer Wie van der Pas, Andreas Zingerle

Advisory Board

Ute Meta Bauer
Ina Blom
Maria Hlavajova
Ranjit Hoskote
Solveig Øvstebø

Executive Board

Stein Olaf Onarheim (chair)
Bodil Friele
Henriette Gallus
Arne Rygg
Marit Warncke