The conversation is held in Norwegian and takes place in the exhibition Corpus Infinitum.
In relation to the exhibition Corpus Infinitum, MUNCH invites audience, members, and curious minds to engage in a program of exploration through the ‘Major Arcana’-series, curated by Sámi scholar, Liisa-Rávná Finbog.
Based on tarot as an alternative source of knowledge, the Major Arcana-series is based on the 22 trumph cards of a tarot deck; these cards follows a narrative journey through innocent exploration, critical engagement, until finally, there is enlightenment. In a similar way, the series will bring its participants on a journey, starting wit h two literary conversations, until it concludes in a larger symposium.
The second event is modelled on the Death card, but contrary to what the name typically implies, the card of ‘Death’ is not necessarily a final ending. Rather, ‘Death’ is a card of potential, signifying the end of a cycle, invoking necessary change and new beginnings.
Aligning the focus of the card with both Afro- and Indigenous Futurism, this event channels the term ‘apocalypse’ understood, not as the end of the world but as change, to consider and imagine the changes that, from a perspective of decolonization, are needed to address the climate change, the impossibility of capitalism, and more to the point, which role institutions – of policymaking, of art, of education, and of everything in between – should take in the call to forge new pathways and alliances, and Indigenous solidarity.
‘The Major Arcana: Death’ invites the Norwegian scholar of Afrofuturism and science-fiction, Marta Mboka Tveit to a conversation with Sami scholar and curator Liisa-Rávná Finbog.
Marta Mboka Tveit is a PhD fellow at the University of Oslo and has a background in media studies and African studies. She also has a few years behind her as a freelancer in journalism and content production, and has, among other things, created a podcast series about young Norwegian-African identity (Norwegian Council for Africa), a series about queer trans people in Zimbabwe (SAIH) and edited the anthology "The Mask Game in Congo " on the French and Moland case. Now she regularly writes in the "Kulturuka" column in the newspaper Klassekampen. She has worked extensively with East and Southern Africa.
Liisa-Rávná Finbog (PhD) is a Sámi Indigenous scholar, duojár, author, and curator affiliated with Tampere University, Finland. She is the author of 'It Speaks to You: Making Kin of People, Stories, and Duodji in Sámi Museums (Dio Press, 2023). She holds a position as an external curator at KORO, the Norwegian government's professional body for art in public spaces as well as the position of curator of discursive programming at MUNCH museum in Oslo. Moving between Sámi aesthetics and the materiality of creative practices, she navigates the dynamics between fine art and politics of indigeneity in her work, both as an academic and duojár, but also in her curatorial practice.
About Corpus Infinitum
Are there equitable options to the hegemonic epistemology of the West, which historically has been founded on the ideology of capitalism, extractivism, and subjugation? In their exhibition, Corpus Infinitum, the two artists, Denise Ferreira da Silva and Arjuna Neuman puts forth said question, challenging existing conventions by exploring topics such as climate collapse, war, imperialism, and colonization through the senses, employing both poetry, philosophy, quantum physics, and tarot to reimagine what is and what could be.
During the spring there will also be a book club related to the exhibition. Send an email for more information on how to join.
Photo: Ove Kvavik
