Norwegian BioArt Arena - NOBA

01/04/2026

A Hundred Years of Listening – A Quiet Mythopoetic Field Guide to Entering the Sensory Body of the Oslofjord

📍 NMBU Campus, Vitenparken
📅 23 April 2026
🕕 18:00–21:00
🌿 Language: English and Norwegian

We will ask: How do we begin to listen again to our fjord, as the breathing, sentient animals we are?

This evening event invites you into a quiet, mythopoetic field guide for sensing and encountering the living body of the Oslofjord. Through guided listening, shared reflection, and artistic practice, we begin a long-term cycle of attunement – to place, to memory, and to more-than-human life.

This is the first gathering of a multi-year journey.
Together, we will explore what it means to listen beyond the human perspective. What happens when we enter the fjord through the sensory worlds of her beings – the barnacle, the harbour porpoise, the blue mussel, the plankton, the eider duck, and the Greenland shark? How do we learn to be in right relation? Who are our kin? Who is already speaking here beside us?

The workshop introduces the first being of the cycle – a presence we will collectively tune to over the coming year. This moment marks the beginning of an unfolding practice of attention, storytelling, and stewardship.

🍃 Program
• Panel discussion
• Listening with the body
• Poetry
• Restorying the fjord

🍃 You are invited
This workshop is for the people of this watershed: the artists, researchers, students, and anyone curious about deep listening, ecological storytelling, and new ways of relating to place.

It is an invitation to slow down, to sense differently, and to begin a shared practice of remembering with the fjord.

🍃 The event is free.
https://vitenparken.no/event/kunstkveld-og-workshop-laer-a-lytte-til-oslofjorden-med-a-hundred-years-of-listening/

26/03/2026

Vi i Vitenparken og vår kunstavdeling, Norwegian BioArt Arena (NOBA), er stolte over å ha deltatt i det EU-finansierte prosjektet «Relating Forests», sammen med TheatreFragile (Tyskland), Cultures Eco-Actives (Frankrike). Prosjektet ble nylig avrundet med arrangementet Myths, Forests and Findings.

Gjennom dette internasjonale samarbeidet har vi utforsket skogen i skjæringspunktet mellom naturvitenskap, kunst, urfolkskunnskap og mytologi. Ved å bringe sammen ulike fagfelt og perspektiver, har målet vært å utforske om scenografi og fortellerkunst, kombinert med opplevelser man kan leve seg inn i, kan bidra til nye relasjoner med skogen og omtanke for miljøet.

NOBA, Norsk biokunst arena, er en arena hvor kunst og vitenskap møtes på like vilkår. Vi tror at dette samarbeidet er nøkkelen til å formidle komplekse miljømessige og sosioøkonomiske utfordringer til et bredere publikum på en måte som berører og engasjerer.

«Relating Forests» er et av flere spennende EU-finansierte prosjekter vi jobber med for øyeblikket, hvor vi fortsetter å utforske innovative løsninger for fremtiden.

🔗 Les mer om prosjektet og våre funn her:
https://vitenparken.no/2026/03/01/fra-europeiske-skoger-til-as-kunst-myter-og-klima-i-nytt-eu-samarbeid/

09/02/2026

🌊 Delta i kunstprosjekt om Oslofjorden – del minner og tanker - 100 Years of Listening

Vitenparken Campus Ås og Norwegian BioArt Arena (NOBA) inviterer til deltakelse i 100 Years of Listening, et tverrfaglig kunst- og kunnskapsprosjekt med utgangspunkt i Oslofjordens økosystem – sett i sammenheng med elver, vannsystemer, landbruk og landskap.

Prosjektet undersøker hvordan økologiske endringer kan forstås gjennom menneskers erfaringer, minner, fagkunnskap og kunstneriske metoder.

Vi søker personer som har minner, historier eller assosiasjoner knyttet til Oslofjorden, dens økosystem og avrenningsområde.

I forprosjektet ønsker vi:
– å snakke med 10 personer direkte i minneintervjuer
– å invitere til en minneworkshop 27. februar kl. 11:30 på Vitenparken
Man kan delta i én av delene eller begge, helt etter eget ønske. Alt er relevant.

Påmelding: send e-post til [email protected]

10/11/2025

We are excited to announce the final online presentation as part of the ‘relating forests’ project.

‘MYTHS, FORESTS and FINDINGS’ on Monday 17th of November 12.00 - 13.30 CET.

The diverse artistic team from Germany, France and Norway, has been on a journey through European forests this year. On November 17th the consortium will present what they in collaboration have created, their findings, and how to carry the work forward. Engaging with local audiences is key for the project. We thereforewelcome all participants in the event to engage in discussions, ask questions and reflect together.

🔗 The event is free, but please sign up to participate and receive a link. Sign up and read more at https://vitenparken.no/event/final-online-event-for-the-eu-funded-project-relating-forests-myths-forests-and-findings/

Supported by: Creative Europe

Partners:
- TheatreFragile
- Cultures Eco-Actives

Photo: Linnea Syversen

Welcome to the online presentation “MYTHS, FORESTS and FINDINGS” the final event as part of the EU funded project ´relating forests

20/03/2025

We are very excited to announce the next two upcoming online lectures. These are part of the ‘relating forests’ online lecture series ‘MYTHS, HUMANS and NATURE’ hosted by Luzie Ackers and Marianne Cornil from Theatre Fragile.

Tuesday 8th of April 09.00 - 12.00 CET:

First ‘“When we still could speak with the animals” – Sámi values, views and understanding of the human-nature relation by Harald Gaski followed by ‘Mask Traditions in European Paganism’ by Yannick Cormier.

Both are free of charge, but please sign up to participate and receive a link.

Sign up at Vitenparken.no/event.

In the first talk, professor Harald Gaski will take a closer look at the traditional Sámi relationship to the surrounding nature, and how this is expressed in myths, stories and beliefs. The Sámi used to communicate with their fellow inhabitants; the birds and the animals and treated the forest as a respectful partner with whom one wanted to be on good terms with.

In the second, photographer Yannick Cormier delves into how European mask rituals powerfully embody the ancient connection between humans and the natural world, highlighting the omnipresence of animal and plant forms where figures covered in fur, leaves, or straw symbolize humanity's primordial relationship with the forest.

Drawing from his documentary work in Spain and Portugal for his "Tierra Magica" series, Cormier explores how these characters serve as essential mediators between worlds, embodying nature's regenerative power while helping communities confront ecological anxieties.

Sign up and read more about the lecturers Harald Gaski, Yannick Cormier and the project ‘relating forests’ at vitenparken.no/event

Supported by: Creative Europe

Thanks a lot to our contributors Harald Gaski and Yannick Cormier

Thanks to our partners:

11/03/2025

Tusen takk til alle som hjalp oss med å teste vår nye installasjon denne helgen! 🌳🐿️

Installasjonen er en del av vår kommende utstilling Bevares!, som fokuserer på biomangfold og bærekraft.

Utstillingen består av syv temaseksjoner: Treet, Bordet, Havet, Dyret, Kroppen, Klima og Jord. Disse utforsker utfordringene knyttet til natur- og klimakrisen, samt eksisterende og fremtidige løsninger på en engasjerende måte.

Åpningsdagen annonseres snart, så følg med for mer informasjon!

07/03/2025

We are excited to announce the upcoming online lecture ‘Myth and Nature: The Forest in German Cultural Imagination’ with Catherin Persing.

The lecture is part of the ‘relating forests’ online lecture series ‘MYTHS, HUMANS and NATURE’ hosted by Luzie Ackers and Marianne Cornil from Theatre Fragile.

First lecture: Thursday March 13, 09.00 – 11.00 CET
Free of charge with limited spots
Sign up at https://vitenparken.no/event/myths-humans-and-nature-online-lectures-series-part-of-the-project-relating-forests/

“Myths shape our understanding of the world, but what dynamics drive them, and to what ends?”

This lecture explores these functions by outlining key theories of myth while also addressing their ideological and political dimensions, particularly in German history during the 20th century. A central focus is the relationship between myth and nature, especially the ways in which myths construct and convey certain concepts of the natural world.

The lecture explores the image of the forest, the idea of the Germans as a “forest people,” and the symbolic weight of the Teutoburg Forest in national narratives.

Lecturer Catherin Persing is a theatre and literary scholar at Ruhr-University Bochum. Her research lies at the intersection of performance studies and the environmental humanities, with a particular focus on figurations and dramaturgies of the more-than-human. Her work is informed by ecocriticism, indigenous studies, and the growing field of plant studies. Currently she explores alternative perceptions of nature, landscape and non-human entities in the context of evolving human-environment relationships.

Sign up and read more about the lecture, Catherin and the project ‘relating forests’ at noba.art.

Supported by: Creative Europe
Thanks to contributor: Catherin Persing

Thanks to our partners: